


Reawakening

by RivanWarrioress



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: Anakin Skywalker Needs a Hug, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Time Travel Fix-It
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-01
Updated: 2020-09-01
Packaged: 2021-03-03 03:28:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 22,703
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24488239
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RivanWarrioress/pseuds/RivanWarrioress
Summary: The last thing he saw before his vision went dark completely was Luke, a single tear rolling down his face, and feeling so proud of the man his son had become.Then everything went dark.A voice whispered to Anakin, Qui Gon’s voice, remembered clearly by Anakin even after all these years.“Would you change things?”“Yes.”“Then May the Force be with you, Anakin Skywalker.”
Relationships: Anakin Skywalker & Ahsoka Tano, Obi-Wan Kenobi & Anakin Skywalker
Comments: 77
Kudos: 602





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> All familiar characters, locations, events, ect, are the property of their respective owners. In some places I have used lines from the films or TV shows. These are also not mine.

Gazing up at Luke…his son…so much like Padme…so compassionate…so bright with the force… Anakin Skywalker could feel death coming. He was already feeling lightheaded, his damaged lungs unable to provide enough oxygen for his body. He could feel the darkness closing in around him, and let himself relax into it, welcoming death as an old friend. 

The last thing he saw before his vision went dark completely was Luke, a single tear rolling down his face, and feeling so proud of the man his son had become.

Then everything went dark.

A voice whispered to Anakin, Qui Gon’s voice, remembered clearly by Anakin even after all these years.

“Would you change things?”

  
“Yes.”

“Then May the Force be with you, Anakin Skywalker.”

STAR WARS

Anakin jerked away, sitting bolt upright as he sucked in air.

Air!

He coughed and gagged, reaching for his mask, but it was gone…the suit was gone and he was suffocating. Panic surged through Anakin’s body as he fought to breathe, his eyes wide as he clawed at his chest…the skin strangely smooth and unblemished. His Left hand clenched and Anakin gazed in wonder at his flesh hand, so much lighter than the prosthetic that had replaced it. His right hand was still cybernetic, but Anakin recognised the model that he had carried during the Clone Wars. He’d spent so much of his free time modifying it, trying to improve it. He’d been happy with it byt the end of the Clone Wars, but then Obi-Wan had cut it off, and Darth Vader had been forced to start over again with his new prosthetics…all four of them.

His breath still wheezing and haggard Anakin yanked his bedding away from him, revealing his legs…flesh and bone and so much lighter than the prosthetics had been.

_“Anakin!”_

Anakin startled at the voice, so so familiar, looking around the room wildly in shock. He recognized the room he was in…his own quarters on the Resolute, but he was alone.

“Anakin!”

This tine Anakin realised where the voice was coming from, and his breath stuttered some more and he leaned forward, resting his forehead against his knees. His breath still coming in wheezes and gasps.

The bond…the one that Anakin had severed so long ago, were back, perhaps not as strong as they had once been back when he was a Padawan, but still there. He could feel Obi-Wan’s concern, the Jedi reaching out to Anakin, obviously having sensed Anakin’s distress.

“Hold on, Anakin, I’m coming.”

Obi-Wan was close…not close enough to indicate that they were on the same ship, but close enough to make Anakin think that the ship that Obi-Wan was on was travelling beside the Resolute.

“Skyguy?”

Anakin’s breathing hitched at the sound of Ahsoka’s voice. Oh, how he had failed her. Her leaving the Jedi Order had been the beginning of the end, for him…among with other things. In hindsight Anakin knew that it was a whole combination of factors that had contributed to his fall. Thinking about it, Anakin reached within himself, deep into his mind…yes, that’s where it was.

Sidious.

The Sith had been corrupting and manipulating Anakin since they’d first met, although Anakin hadn’t realised it until a few years after he’d become Vader. It had only added to Vader’s hurt and anger to realise that he’d been used, moulded and shaped by Sidious.

“Master?”

Anakin jumped, looking up once again, having not noticed the sound of the door sliding open. Ahsoka stood in the doorway, her blue eyes round with fear and uncertainty. She looked so young, a far cry from the experienced warrior she’d been the last time they’d encountered each other, when everything had been tinted red.

“Snips?” he choked out, his breathing only just starting to even out, although his heart was still racing in his chest.

“Are you ok? I felt…it felt like an explosion, in the force.”

Anakin choked, Ahsoka’s words reminding him of how it felt when order 66 had happened and the Jedi had been all but eliminated…and then, years later, the feeling that had washed over him as the entire population of Alderaan was wiped out in an instant while he stood by and watched, doing nothing except holding his daughter back. It was too much. Anakin gagged and leaned over, vomiting onto the floor of his quarters. He dimly heard Ahsoka calling for Kix, but the memories kept washing over him of the things he had done…the younglings…Mustafar…Obi-Wan…Padme…so many, countless deaths…Ahsoka…Leia and the Death Star…Luke on Bespin.

All because of him.

“It’s ok, Skyguy, Kix is coming…Obi-Wan too. They’ll help you. I’m here too”

Anakin trembled as he felt Ahsoka’s hand rest on his back, rubbing it gently as he coughed and gagged. His chest shuddered with every rasping breath he took and Anakin could feel his whole body shaking. He could feel tears rolling down his face, but he was powerless to stop them. He felt Ahsoka gently pull him against her, his body dwarfing hers, as she tried to calm him down. Anakin could only shake, his eyes squeezed shut as the memories of what he’d done went through his mind over and over and over again.

“I’m sorry,” he croaked out hoarsely, “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry.”

Anakin lost track of how many times he apologised to Ahsoka…how long they were like that, with her basically cradling him in her arms. He was dimly aware of others in the room…Rex and Kix, but he couldn’t bring himself to move. At least his stomach had stopped trying to empty itself, although it still felt like it was churning.

It was only when he felt another familiar presence enter the room that Anakin could bring himself to move. Obi-Wan’s presence felt like a warm blanket wrapped around Anakin, warding off the cold and anything that sought to hurt him. Dimly, Anakin could hear Obi-Wan and Ahsoka talking.

“I…I don’t know, Master. He’s been like this since it happened 

“Has he said anything?”

“He just called me Snips and then he started apologising, over and over again.”

“Anakin”

Anakin shuddered as he remembered the pain on Obi-Wan’s face just before their battle on Mustafar, and then of their final duel on the Death Star, when he’d killed his former master. During Anakin’s years as a Padawan Obi-Wan had often lightly observed that Anakin would be the death of him, and Anakin had always been quick to rebut that claim, but it had turned out to be true.

Slowly Anakin opened his eyes and looked up. Obi-Wan was there, and oh so gently he combed his fingers through Anakin’s long, mussed hair. Anakin let out a shuddering breath, remembering belatedly that he didn’t have the suit anymore to breathe for him. 

“Anakin…what happened…what’s wrong.”

Anakin sobbed and let his force bond with Obi-Wan open up a little more, letting his feelings leak out a little, although he didn’t…couldn’t bring himself to share his memories with Obi-Wan. Without saying a word Obi-Wan sat on the other side of Anakin, so that Anakin was pressed between his former Master, and his Padawan. He felt Obi-Wan gently tug him into an embrace, and Anakin let himself be eased so he was leaning against Obi-Wan, rather than Ahsoka.

“Master Obi-Wan…what is it?”

“I don’t know. If I didn’t know otherwise I would say someone’s tried to torture him, but he was safe and in his room the whole time. I think we need to contact the council. Maybe Master Yoda has seen something like this before.”

Anakin blinked. He’d never encountered Master Yoda since he’d become Vader, although Vader had long suspected that Yoda had survived order 66 and was hiding away somewhere, but the ancient Jedi was very perceptive. What if he realised what Anakin knew…what he would someday become.

No…Not would… Anakin was not going to fall…not this time.

The Empire would not rise, and Anakin Skywalker would not become Darth Vader

And he could start taking action on that right now.

“I know who the Sith Lord is…its Chancellor Palpatine.”


	2. Chapter 2

Obi-Wan Kenobi leaned against the wall of the med bay, watching as his former Padawan, Anakin Skywalker, slumbered on. After Anakin’s accusation of the Chancellor being the Sith Lord the younger man’s condition had failed to improve, his breathing remaining erratic, and his heart pounding in his chest. The younger Jedi had kept apologising continuously, and crying. On Kix’s advice Obi-Wan had agreed to Anakin being sedated so he could be checked over.

They’d found nothing wrong with Anakin, physically. There was no physical reason for this sudden…attack. Obi-Wan, however, had not expected for the medics to find anything wrong. He and Ahsoka had both felt the disruption in the force. Obi-Wan was sure that almost every force sensitive being in the galaxy would have felt it. He’d already been contacted by the council regarding it’s cause. He’d been able to confirm that it had centred on Anakin, and had left Anakin…very shaken, but he’d not mentioned Anakin’s wild accusation. He didn’t know if it was just Anakin rambling, or if there was something Anakin knew that Obi-Wan didn’t. Maybe he’d had some sort of vision…Anakin was known to have had prophetic dreams before after all.

As it was both the Resolute and the Negotiator were in hyperspace, returning to the capital, so that Anakin could be treated by the healers at the Jedi Temple, and so Anakin could talk more with the Council about what had happened. Obi-Wan wasn’t sure how much Anakin was going to be able to tell them.

At least Anakin’s vital signs had returned to their normal levels once he’d been sedated, although Obi-Wan was keeping a eye on them still. He knew after all that Anakin was prone to nightmares, as well as his visions, and Obi-Wan was fairly sure that Anakin was going to have a bad night.

For the moment Anakin was resting peacefully, and Obi-Wan allowed himself some time to consider Anakin’s allegation. Anakin was the last person Obi-Wan would pick to make an accusation, especially one about being a Sith Lord, against the Chancellor. Anakin looked up to the man greatly, defending the Chancellor’s decisions and actions on multiple occasions and at great length. Obi-Wan knew that Anakin often went to the Chancellor for advice, or to vent, if Anakin felt he couldn’t do so to someone within the order. It had been like that from Anakin’s early years at the temple. In some ways, the Chancellor had a sort of father role in Anakin’s life…in the ways that Obi-Wan couldn’t. What would bring Anakin to suddenly turn on his friend and label him a Sith Lord?

Obi-Wan felt a shudder go down his spine as he imagined the implications if Anakin was right and the Chancellor was a Sith Lord, or even in league with the Sith. The Sith’s control of the Senate…and consequentially the Jedi order, for one.

The Jedi council knew that the Dark Side was clouding things…that Coruscant seemed to be a beacon for it. It was something Obi-Wan himself had noticed, how the dark side seemed to hang in the air oppressively over Coruscant, but on other planets it wasn’t detectable at all. The chancellor being a Sith Lord would be an obvious reason for the dark side to be so noticeable. 

The more he thought about it, the more Obi-Wan realised how the pieces of the puzzle fitted together. It wasn’t proper evidence, no court in the galaxy would ever convict on such speculation. They would need proof…damning proof, and even then Obi-Wan wasn’t convinced. It was the Chancellor, the most powerful man in the galaxy. Was there any judge or jury that would be able to convict the chancellor of his crimes? Obi-Wan doubted it. His elevation to the Jedi Council had only highlighted to him the amount of corruption that plagued Coruscant, the Senate, and the Galaxy in general.

It was a very worrying situation, and Obi-Wan briefly wondered how long the Jedi council would debate and discuss it. A sneaking suspicion told Obi-Wan that he was going to become very familiar with the Jedi Council chamber over the coming days and weeks.

As bad as the situation was if Anakin was right, Obi-Wan’s most pressing concern wasn’t the Chancellor, or the Clone War, still raging. It was Anakin.

What on earth had happened to his Padawan, and what could Obi-Wan do to help him?

Obi-Wan silently walked into the med bay Anakin was laying in, taking in Anakin’s prone figure. Anakin’s skin was pale, save for the dark, bruise like shadows beneath Anakin’s eyes, evidence that, even prior to this, Anakin hadn’t been sleeping well. Unable to help himself, Obi-Wan brushed back a few stands of Anakin’s hair that had fallen onto his face, before he sat on the edge of Anakin’s bed, watching over Anakin protectively.

Anakin had always been strangely resistant to most medications. The drug they’d used to sedate Anakin probably would be close to wearing off by now, unless whatever had happened to Anakin had slowed the process down. A glance at the chrono on the wall told Obi-Wan that it had been six hours since he’d been awoken by the disturbance in the force that had either caused, or been caused by, whatever had happened to Anakin.

Obi-Wan lost track of how long he spent sitting beside Anakin before he felt the first signs of his former Padawan stirring back to consciousness through the force. Obi-Wan sent soothing waves through their bond, although Anakin’s shields were still firmly up.

Obi-Wan waited as Anakin slowly began to wake up, although he frowned when Anakin’s breathing hitched and the younger man began to cough and wheeze, his eyes flashing open as he faught to breathe. Obi-Wan grabbed hold of Anakin’s shoulders

“Anakin…Anakin…can you hear me? It’s obi-Wan, you need to calm down.”

“Here” a medical droid was by their sides and an oxygen mask was pulled onto Anakin’s face

“Breathe, Anakin, breathe,” Obi-Wan coaxed, watching as Anakin breathed once, and then twice.

“Master?” Anakin croaked out, as his eyes fluttered open, still slightly glazed from the sedative, but alert enough.

“I’m here, I’m right here,” Obi-Wan soothed.

Anakin’s fingers clutched hold of Obi-Wan’s robe tightly, but Obi-Wan said nothing about the show of affection, something that Anakin had done quite a lot in his first few years at the temple, the habit persisting up until Anakin was around thirteen or fourteen. Instead, Obi-Wan ran his finger’s gently though Anakin’s hair, the action soothing both of them. 

“Obi-Wan…I”

“If you’re about to apologise…again…I’m going to need to stop you there, because I have no idea what you’re apologising for.”

“I…Master, I…hang on…where are we?’

“In the Med bay of the Resolute…you should know, you spend enough time in here.”

Anakin’s eyes were darting around in shock, and Obi-Wan’s brow furrowed in genuine concern. Had Anakin hit his head at some point, was this the result of some sort of concussion gained during their last mission? No…they’d tested for that, after they’d sedated him. Anakin had been perfectly healthy physically.

A monitor beeping caught Obi-Wan’s attention, “Anakin…you need to remember to breathe.”

Anakin let out the breath he obviously hadn’t realised he was holding, and then breathed normally for a minute. Slowly…hesitantly…Anakin detangled the fingers of his prosthetic hand from Oni-Wan’s robe and lifted his hand, glancing at it curiously, before he carefully, almost gingerly, took the oxygen mask off.

“Anakin…” Obi-Wan began, not sure where he was going with the comment. Anakin still held the mask close to his face, not casting it aside like he might have done in the past (and had done so on numerous occasions). 

Not saying anything, Anakin just breathed in and out deeply. His shields against Obi-Wan lowered fractionally, and Obi-Wan could sense the wonder of the younger man…bordering on glee.

“Anakin…you’re not hurt…breathing is normal…you have been doing it for twenty years without help,” Obi-Wan gently teased. Anakin smiled, although it was weak, and didn’t reach Anakin’s eyes.

“You have no idea, Obi-Wan.”

“Anakin…when you…when you were last awake…you said something.”  
  
Anakin nodded, relaxing a grip on the mask, leaving it resting on the pillow beside his head.

“The chancellor is a Sith Lord.”

“Yes…that was what you said. I…I thought you were friends.”

Anakin’s breathing hitched, but only the once, “I thought so too.”

“How do you know, the Council have been trying to figure out who the Sith lord is for years.”

“I…” Anakin broke off, and Obi-Wan was surprised by Anakin’s fear…his sudden nervousness. Nervous was not a word frequently used to describe Anakin Skywalker.

“It will sound mad,” Anakin finally settled on, “and you will never forgive me…no-one will.”

“Try me, I dare you,” Obi-Wan crossed his arms confidently. Anakin loved being dared.

Anakin gave another brief smile, although it remained a half-hearted effort. He looked up at Obi-Wan and Obi-Wan felt his own breathing hitch and the tortured look in Anakin’s eyes. Eyes that had seen far too much. Anakin was only twenty years old…and yet the look in his gaze, the pain and torment and guilt

Oh the guilt…Anakin was drowning in the guilt.

“Obi-Wan…I know…because I was a Sith Lord too.”


	3. Chapter 3

“A…a Sith Lord? You were a Sith Lord. When were you a Sith Lord?” The shock and confusion were almost comical on Obi-Wan’s face. Anakin could almost read his former master’s thoughts.

_‘How the Kriff did I miss this? How did I screw up this badly?’_

“I don’t know, how far are we into the Clone Wars?”

“Eight months since Geonosis, why?” Obi-Wan replied, obviously confused.

“In about three years then, and then for another twenty four years after that,” Anakin nodded.

“What?”

Anakin took pity on Obi-Wan, whose look of confusion had only become deeper, “I think I’ve time travelled,” he explained, “one moment I was…dying, then I was dead, and then, all of a sudden, I’m back in my twenty year old body.

“And…you…you fell?”

Anakin nodded, looking down at his hands, which were both once again fisted around Obi-Wan’s robes. He flexed his flesh hand…he still had a flesh hand…and flesh feet…and he could breathe.

“I fell,” he admitted, avoiding Obi-Wan’s penetrating gaze.

“And…the chancellor…”

“Was my master…” Anakin felt sick saying it. His stomach clenched, and acid burned in his throat but nothing came back up, so Anakin swallowed the urge to throw up back down, literally.

“Anakin…”

“I killed you” Anakin interrupted with a whisper, his eyes filling with tears as he remembered that day on the Death Star, the moment he cut Obi-Wan down.

“I…what?” Obi-Wan choked, his grip tightening on Anakin’s shoulder. Anakin heaved in a breath and looked up, his eyes meeting Obi-Wan’s once again 

“I killed you…I killed the younglings…it was my fault that everyone died.” Anakin sobbed at the end of the sentence and lowered his head. He didn’t see Obi-Wan shuffling closer, but he felt Obi-Wan gently wrap his arms around Anakin in a hug.

“No, Listen to me, Anakin…it’s not going to happen.”

“For me…it already has.” 

“Well, it won’t happen this time around, we’ll make sure of it.”

Anakin was silent, leaning against Obi-Wan’s chest. Obi-Wan was warm, and soothing against the chill of space. The older man was also sending soothing waves through the bond the shared. When was the last time someone had been so close to him? Luke, on the death Star, while his son had been dragging him to the shuttle, but before that?

It would have been before Mustafar.

Anakin felt tears roll down his face as he remembered how Padme had felt when she used to hug him, during their secret nights together. He remembered how happy she’d been, hopeful about the future and already carrying so much love for their children. 

He’d never known the truth about how she’d died. For 19 years all he’d known was the lie that Palpatine had told him, Anakin himself had been the one to murder his wife, and their child with her, but then he learned about Luke, and everything changed. If Luke had survived then Anakin, or rather, Vader couldn’t possibly have killed her, or not directly anyway. In the years that had passed since that day Vader had become something of an expert on using force chokes, and after he’d learned about Luke Vader had spent a lot of time meditating back on that day, and although the memories were tainted with pain, hate, betrayal and an all-consuming anger, Vader had recalled the moment when he’d lashed out at Padme. Yes, he’d had in her a strangle hold, and yes, it had undoubtedly hurt her, but he hadn’t broken her neck, nor her hyoid bone. Nor had he held the choke hold long enough to suffocate her to the point of death.

Despite knowing that he hadn’t killed Padme, it hadn’t eased Vader’s guilt at all, nor did it ease Anakin’s own guilt over everything he’d done since the moment he’d knelt before Palpatine in the Chancellors office, or even before that.

“Anakin…I’m right here, I’m not going anywhere.”

Anakin opened his eyes, unaware that he’d even closed them, and realised that his fingers, both flesh and mechanical, were tightly gripping onto Obi-Wan’s robes again. Anakin hastily released them and tried to focus on his flesh hand, rather than his memories. It had been so long since he’d had a flash hand. He smiled as she spotted the small burn scar from the first time he’d tried to make Obi-Wan a cup of tea one morning not long after Anakin became his Padawan.

“I’d…forgotten what having a flash hand is like,” he admitted in a wheezing voice. Anakin blinked at the sound of his own voice, before he reminded himself to breathe.

“Did…did you lose that one too?”

“Yes…and both legs as well. There wasn’t much of me left after that fight, between losing all four limbs...and the burns.”

“Burns?”

“Mustafar…I didn’t fall in the lava but…I was close enough to…to burn.”

Obi-Wan’s skin paled and his eyes widened in surprise, “Who…was it Palpatine?”

“No, he was the one who found me afterwards,” Anakin replied before hesitating. The truth would hurt Obi-Wan, but Anakin was done lying.

“It was you,” he offered quietly, sending waves of forgiveness through the bond as he spoke. How could he not forgive Obi-Wan, having returned to the light side of the force and having the veil of the dark side lifted from his eyes, like Luke finally removing his helmet with the kriffing red tinted lenses.

“Me…oh Force, Anakin, I’m so sorry.”

“I’m not. You had the higher ground, I was stupid to even consider it…” Anakin shrugged, “Besides, limb prosthetics I can live with, it gave me a project to work on while I meditated over the years. The suit…that…that was…” Anakin shook his head at how torturous the suit had been. Torturous, but necessary.

“What suit, I wasn’t aware the Sith had uniforms, was it black?”

Anakin couldn’t help but roll his eyes. Oh, how he’d missed Obi-Wan and his quips.

“Of course. It was a full life support suit. After…after Mustafar I…I was more dead than alive. My lungs were all but destroyed, I couldn’t breathe for very long without the suit. It…it was what got me, in the end…eventually. Palpatine’s lightning took out the suit, and probably damaged what was left of my body too, but…but with the suit out of commission I was never going to make it. Death…death was more than I deserved, for what I did.”

“That’s why you’re having trouble breathing…because you haven’t consciously done it on your own for so long,” Obi-Wan reasoned with wide, shocked eyes, his grip on Anakin tightening as if he could protect Anakin from living through that pain again. Anakin nodded in reply, and closed his eyes again as more tears trickled from his eyes. Tears…that was something else he hadn’t been physically capable of since Mustafar.

“You’ve got to help me, Master,” Anakin whispered, leaning his head a little more against Obi-Wan, letting the older man take a little more of Anakin’s weight.

“Help you?”

“Help be stop Palpatine before he ruins everything. Save the Galaxy, Save the Jedi, Save the Senate, save everyone. For too long the dark side has held all the power, tainting everything it touches. We’ve got to bring balance back to the force, just like Qui-Gon said we would.”

“I think that he was referring to the damned prophecy about you when he said that.”

“I know what happens when I try and do everything myself Master…when I don’t trust people. I can’t do this alone. I need you to help me, Master.”

“I will help you, Anakin, you know that. You shouldn’t feel like you have to ask.”

“Thank you” Anakin exhaled, feeling as though a great weight had been lifted off his shoulders. Last time around he’d fallen and everything had gone wrong. This time, with Obi-Wan helping him, things were going to end out better, Anakin was sure of it.

“If you don’t mind me asking…why did you fall?” Obi-Wan’s voice was quiet, uncertain. Anakin knew that Obi-Wan was doubting himself, maybe even blaming himself for not being a good enough teacher.

“Don’t ever blame yourself for what I did,” Anakin looked up at him master’s face. He blinked in shock at the tears rolling down Obi-Wan’s face. Obi-wan didn’t cry, didn’t show emotion. 

“It wasn’t your fault,” Anakin told him, “it was mine. Palpatine…he’s been working on me for years, since I was a child newly inducted to the Jedi order, feeding my doubts and fears, planting seeds for my resentment towards you and the order. Then…when the Clone Wars started, and things just escalated from there. Things happened which weakened my connections with others. You, Ahsoka, anyone within the order I was close to, I was left felling as though I couldn’t trust anyone.”

“You can trust me with anything, Anakin, you know that, or at least, I thought you did.”

I knew I could trust you, Master, but…but there are some things that I’ve never felt I could talk to you about. Things I’ve done that…that are against the Jedi code. Things that I didn’t want the council to know about because I knew I’d be removed from the order. At the same time I…I didn’t want to put you in an awkward position between myself and the Council when I know they don’t like me already.”

“I wouldn’t say they didn’t like you.” Obi-Wan offered carefully, although Anakin knew from the look on Obi-Wan’s face that his former Master knew exactly what Anakin was talking about.

“Eventually I started having dreams again…dreams of someone I cared about dying. I…I couldn’t cope with the idea of…of my dreams coming true again, and I knew that the Jedi couldn’t help. Yoda told me I should rejoice in someone becoming one with the force, and let go of my attachments but…the way I was thinking at that point…I couldn’t deal with that”

“So you went to Palpatine?”

Anakin nodded, “he told me about a Sith legend, a way that I could save the person I was…afraid to lose. By then the council suspected the chancellor, and sent most of the council to arrest him. I…I helped Palpatine defeat the Jedi, and then I knelt before him to become his apprentice.”

“And…the one whose death you were trying to prevent?”

“Died anyway, and for most of my time as a Sith…I believed that I’d been the one to kill them in my anger.”

“Oh, Anakin, I’m sorry. I’m sorry for everything. We…the Jedi, have failed you so much. I wish that you hadn’t had to go through what you have…the pain of having someone you care about die…the isolation…the suffering.”

“Obi-Wan, I…”

“You’re my brother, Anakin. I’ve always loved you as my brother, despite our disagreements over the years. I would do anything for you…to protect you. I would not share your secrets with the COucnil, not if you did not want me too.”

Anakin was stunned into silence, gazing up at Obi-Wan in shock. How many times had he questioned if his attachment with Obi-Wan was one way, or what was normal between a Master and Padawan, or former Padawan. He’d had glimpses over the years when he’d been working alongside other Jedi, especially during the Clone Wars, glimpses that implied that Obi-Wan’s attachment was perhaps a little stronger than normal. 

A memory came back to him, a memory that was stained with the worst pain Anakin had felt in his entire life…burning pain, accompanied with the excruciating sting of perceived betrayal.

_“You were the Chosen One! It was said that you would destroy the Sith, not join them. Bring balance to the force, not leave it in darkness…You were my brother, Anakin! I loved you.”_

Anakin heaved in a breath, still relishing in how good it felt to breathe independently.

“The…the person I was trying to save…it was Padme. We’re married.”

Obi-Wan’s eyes widened momentarily in shock before he let out a chuckle, although Anakin felt the waves of reassurance his master was sending him through their bond.

“I knew that something was going on…you aren’t as sneaky as you would like to think but…married? I wasn’t expecting that. Since when?”

“Just after Geonosis, when I escorted her back to Naboo.”

“I suppose I should congratulate you. I’m afraid I don’t have any good advice to give you on how to be a good husband.”

Anakin felt his cheeks colour rapidly, and Obi-Wan laughed at Anakin’s obvious embarrassment.

“Especially in that department.”

“Obi-Wan” Anakin groaned at Obi-Wan’s teasing, hiding his still red face in his master’s robe like a small child.

“We’ll find a way to save her, Anakin. I’m sure that together we’ll think of something.”

Anakin nodded and rested his head against Obi-Wan’s chest, suddenly feeling drained. Obi-Wan gently ran his fingers through Anakin’s hair, and Anakin was reminded of his early years at the temple, when Obi-Wan used to sooth him like this after Anakin had a nightmare. It was soothing then, and it worked in much the same way now. Anakin fought against the urge to sleep, even as his eyelids begun to get heavy.

“Rest, Anakin, you will need it. We will need the support of the council to bring down the Chancellor, and I know that you don’t want to tell them everything, you are going to have to reveal some things.”

“I know,” Anakin admitted, already thinking about what he was going to say, “I just hope that they believe me.”


	4. Chapter 4

Keeping one eye on his sleeping former Padawan, Obi-Wan thoughtfully stroked his beard. Anakin had only allowed himself to relax enough to fall asleep again once Ahsoka had joined them. Anakin had his head pillowed on Ahsoka’s lap as the young Padawan ran her fingers soothingly through his hair. Obi-Wan had positioned himself at the other end of the bed, as Anakin had helpfully tucked his legs up to give Obi-Wan room. 

Obi-Wan had no doubt that Anakin believed everything he had said. After all these years Obi-Wan had gotten very good at telling when Anakin was lying, and Anakin had never been very good at lying to begin with. Apparently, simply omitting the truth and keeping secrets was another matter entirely, but that was an issue for another time.

Everything that Anakin had told him was swimming around in Obi-Wans head. Some of it seemed plausible…like Anakin and Padme’s relationship, although Obi-Wan was surprised to learn that they were married. While it seemed something that Anakin would do, he though Padme was more cautious about these things. If it was discovered it wouldn’t just be Anakin’s career as a Jedi that would be put in Jeopardy, but Padme’s career as a politician too. It would be seen as a massive conflict of interest, since technically the Jedi were under the jurisdiction of the Senate, which essentially meant that she was one of Anakin’s bosses.

What seemed impossible to believe was Anakin’s claims about the Chancellor. Now that Anakin was resting though, Obi-Wan was free to think about it a little more. The Chancellor had always shown an interest in Anakin, right from the beginning. There had been times in the first few years Anakin had been at the temple when Obi-Wan hadn’t felt comfortable about letting Anakin go and meet with the Chancellor from time to time, but Anakin had come back each time unharmed and seemingly happy, so Obi-Wan hadn’t let himself be overly bothered. Yes there had been times in more recent years that Anakin’s thoughts had been a little more clouded after visiting the chancellor, or he’d been more prone to arguing or been cooler towards Obi-Wan, but not enough to be noticeable, or for any sort of connection to be made.

The Chancellor was extremely popular, both within the senate, and in the general population of systems within the republic. With each election he seemed to gain more and more supporters, and bills that he supported more often than not were voted in by the senate, however, Obi-Wan knew that there were some, Senator Amidala among them, who were beginning to become distrustful of the chancellor, concerned about the additional powers he had been granting himself since the outbreak of the Clone Wars, and how funding was being distributed in the Galaxy, with Military spending up at the expense of social support for the poor, disadvantaged and impoverished members of the republic. Food shortages in some systems were becoming increasingly frequent, and although the war was being blamed, some of the systems being affected were no-where near where the fighting was taking place. These systems, however, had leaders who were openly sceptical of the Chancellor.

Maybe it wasn’t as unlikely as Obi-Wan had originally thought.

Of course, there was still the question of what they could do about it. The Chancellor had been right, a change of leadership in the Republic at this time, with War raging, would sure be detrimental, and could well tear the Galaxy apart. They were already embroiled in a vicious Civil War with the Separatists, they didn’t need further divisions and fighting in the senate. Of course, if Anakin was right and the Chancellor was in league with Count Dooku, and had been leaking him information then things may work out better for the Jedi and the Clone army once the Chancellor had been removed from his position of power.

Another thought came to Obi-Wan. Anakin had come back approximately 27 years, meaning that he had 47 years of life experience behind him. Mentally at least that made Anakin older than Obi-Wan, by 12 years, a contrast to Obi-Wan being 16 years his Padawan’s senior. What difference would that make to Anakin, especially given that over half of those years had been spent as a Sith Lord?

Obi-Wan knew that Anakin at times teetered a little too close to the Dark side. It wasn’t surprising to learn that Anakin had fallen, especially if Palpatine had been manipulating him, and slowly weakening Anakin’s connections with those he was close to…Ahsoka, Obi-Wan and Padme on top of the list. Anakin had always had trouble with attachments. It was something that Obi-Wan had attributed to Anakin being older when he’d joined the Jedi. He’d had nine years of normal life, of being loved by his mother, and being allowed to love freely in return. It had been too hard to unlearn. 

And, realistically, it hadn’t been fair on anyone to force Anakin to go through his life without something like that when he’d always experienced it before. It was something that obi-Wan had always believed, but he’d felt bound by Qui-Gon’s last words to take Anakin as his Padawan, and part of having a Padawan was teaching them to live by the code, which involved discarding attachments.

Obi-Wan knew he’d failed both Anakin and Qui-Gon in that regard, especially with this new bombshell of Anakin’s, although the fact that Anakin was telling him anything was a positive sign. It meant that Anakin trusted him, if nothing else. Anakin was wary of those he did not trust, and the Jedi Council, especially Master Windu, were right on top of the list. Obi-Wan knew it was because the council had initially been so against Anakin being trained, although if Obi-Wan had to guess he would also put some of the blame on Anakin’s past on Tattooine as a slave, and the inherit mistrust of authority figures that was sure to give you.

“Master Obi-Wan?”

Obi-Wan blinked, not realising that he’d fallen into a light meditation as he tried to work his way through his turbulent thoughts. Ahsoka was looking at him questioningly.

“Are you alright?”

“Just trying to puzzle my way through these things,” Obi-Wan reassured with a smile.

“Is Skyguy going to be ok?”

Obi-Wan opened his mouth to immediately reassure Ahsoka, but then he thought about it. Already Ahsoka had proven herself loyal to Anakin, and she deserved to know the truth.

“I don’t know,” he admitted, “it is unlikely he will ever be the same. What he has been through…I do not think anyone would be able to go through what he has and be unchanged. All we can do for him is be there for him, listen if he needs to talk, and make sure that he knows the we’re here for him.”

“Master Obi-Wan…what has happened?” Ahsoka asked. Obi-Wan thought about replying, aware that Ahsoka hadn’t been there for his and Anakin’s conversation, but then decided that it was Anakin’s story to tell. Anakin could tell her how much or how little he wanted. Ahsoka was his Padawan after all. Besides, Obi-Wan did want to damage what trust Anakin had in him by telling Ahsoka more than Anakin wanted her to know. Anakin had admitted that rifts had being distanced from Obi-Wan and Ahsoka had been part of what had contributed to his fall. There was no way that Obi-Wan was going to risk contributing to Anakin’s isolation once again. 

“Anakin has…been through something no Jedi has experienced before, to my knowledge. It’s left him shaken…his beliefs shattered. It has left him with considerable knowledge…knowledge that will change the course of history.”

“You mean…what he said about the Chancellor? Is it true?”

“Anakin certainly believes it is, and I believe him.”

Ahsoka looked shocked, before she returned her attention back to Anakin, still sleeping, with his head resting peacefully in her lap, and she continued to stroke her fingers gently through her master’s hair.

“I’ll be here for him, whatever he needs,” she promised solemnly. Obi-Wan smiled proudly. Anakin had a brilliant Padawan there, and Obi-Wan couldn’t be prouder of both his Padawan, and his Grand Padawan. 


	5. Chapter 5

“Repeat, will you, what told Obi-Wan, you have?” Master Yoda leaned forward in his chair in the Jedi Council chamber. Obi-Wan had forgone his usual chair to stand beside Anakin supportively, something Anakin was very grateful for. This was going to be hard enough without having to stand alone before the Jedi Council.

Although, now that he thought about it, standing before the Jedi Council didn’t seem so bad after so many years kneeling before the Emperor. At least the Jedi Council didn’t use lightning as punishment. Anakin had lost count of the number of times he had displeased the Emperor and been hit with lightning as punishment for some deviation from Palpatine’s orders. In hindsight, Anakin wasn’t sure what Palpatine had expected. It wasn’t like Anakin had ever stuck to the rules before he’d fallen and become a Sith.

“The Republic is in the control of a Sith.”

A stir went around the room at Anakin’s words, the members of the Jedi Council exchanging whispered words and worried glances. Yoda was the only one who didn’t react, except for a slight twitch in the ears. Anakin waited for the council to fall silent once again, focusing on the waves of reassurance Obi-Wan was sending him through their bond. The bond…oh how Anakin relished in the feeling of his bond with his former master. It had been severed after his fall, and given how Vader felt about Obi-Wan, it was certainly for the best, but now…now Anakin actively nurtured the bond, building it back to what it had once been, back before he’d been knighted.

“The Chancellor is the Sith Lord…Darth SIdeous.”

Another stir went around the council chamber, but this time Yoda spoke.

“Know this, do you? A vision you have had?”

“I…of sorts,” Anakin offered, somewhat lamely. 

“A vision of sorts?” prompted Yoda curiously

“The future, I’ve seen it…I’ve lived it. The next 27 years, up until my death. I thought it was over, that I was one with the force…but then I woke up, and I was in the past again. I think the force sent me back to…make things right this time around.”

“Make things right? Why would the force send you back to now to do that?” asked Mace Windu

“Did…did the separatists win?” Plo Koon’s concern was unmistakable.

“The Chancellor is running both sides of the war. Dooku reports to him, just as the senate does. He engineered the war for his own personal gain…he’s been doing it for a long time before the war started too. He organised the Blockade at Naboo nearly eleven years ago. The outcome of the war…it doesn’t really make any difference to him, in the grand scheme of things. The War…it gave him a reason to grant himself extra powers…give himself more and more power and control over the Senate, and by extension, the whole galaxy. We’re all just pieces in his game, nothing we do really matters to him.”

“So, why send you back?”

“Because…because in three years’ time, the last time I lived through them…I fell to the dark side and became his apprentice.”

This time there was no whispers or comments, just stunned silence. More than a few members of the council reached for their lightsabres, but none actually drew their weapons. Anakin kept his gaze lowered, feeling sick as he remembered the last time he was in this very room...the younglings peering up at him, expecting him to save them…and instead he’d murdered them.

Swallowing, Anakin knelt to the smooth floor of the council chamber, his head bowed, just as he would have if he was before Sideous. There was a part of him that half expected for his head to be taken off right then and there. One of the council members moved, stretching out their hand for a glass of water, and Anakin instinctively flinched back, bracing himself, for the burning pain of electricity coursing through his system. There was no pain however, no lightning arcing through the air towards him. This was the Jedi Council, not Darth Sideous.

“Hmmm, tell us more, Knight Skywalker?” Yoda enquired

“What do you want to know?”

“Fall you say you did, happen how did it?”

“It…it had been coming on slowly for…awhile,” Anakin admitted.

“Before now?”

Anakin shuddered, remembering the Tusken village, “Yes, it was just before Geonosis.”

“When you were protecting Senator Amidala?” Mace again

“I…I had been having dreams…of my mother, for a few weeks. Obi-Wan told me to let go of my attachments, that I shouldn’t worry. While I was on Naboo with Pad…the Senator, I had another dream. I told her about what I’d dreamt, and we mutually decided to go to Tattooine to check. At a similar time to when I started having the dreams my mother was attacked and taken by Tusken Raiders. They kept her prisoner. I found her there, in that tent…tortured, starving, and barely conscious. She recognised me though…and then she died in my arms. I…I could not release my emotions into the force, like I know I should have. I…lost myself to my anger…my grief, and I let the dark side take over me, control my actions.”

Anakin was careful not to focus too much on Obi-Wan. He’d never told Obi-Wan what had happened on Tattooine. Obi-Wan had asked once, not long after Geonosis, what he and Padme had been doing there, and Padme had simply stated that he’d been following his mandate and staying with her. Obi-Wan probably knew that it somehow related to Anakin’s mother, but hadn’t said anything more on the matter. He didn’t even know that Anakin’s mother dad died

“I sense a great grief within you, your actions on that day, do you regret?”

Anakin had to think before replying, “Not as much as I should,” he admitted, “I still hate them, but I will also admit that I went too far.”

“Have there been any other moments since then?

“No” Anakin replied. It was the truth. While even at this stage of falling, the first time around, he’d been constantly aware of the lure of the dark side, he hadn’t fully given into it again until the closing days of the Clone Wars, when he’d fought and killed Dooku. He’d been reckless, and angry, but he’d never lost control like he had that night on Tattooine

“In danger, do you feel, of falling again?”

“No,” Anakin needed no time to think after Yoda’s question. He wasn’t going to let that happen to himself again…He’d hurt or destroyed everyone and everything he’d ever cared about…Padme, Obi-Wan, Ahsoka, the Jedi Order, his own soul and beliefs, Ahsoka again, Leia, Obi-Wan again, Luke... 

“Then return we will, to this topic, at another time. More pressing, however, this matter of the Chancellor is.”

“You’re just going to believe him?” Anakin didn’t think he’d ever heard Mace Windu sound so shocked.

“No deceit can I sense in young Skywalker,” Yoda turned to his fellow Council member, “great guilt I can sense, regret his actions deeply he does. Great his suffering. No way, there is, for one so young to have seen so much. Tortured and in pain, his soul is. If untrue, his claim is, then we as Jedi have failed him.” Yoda broke off to shake his head sadly. Anakin looked up at the aging master as he hopped down from his chair and hobbled towards Anakin. He rested his green, clawed hand on Anakin’s flesh arm gently…supportively.

“Tell us what you can, about this Darth’s Sideous’ plan.”

“He wants to claim control of the Senate.”

“He already does that,” Mace Windu pointed out. 

Anakin shook his head, “it gets worse. As the Clone Wars drag on he will grant himself new powers, and staying in power long after his term has been completed. He will argue that it’s because of the war, and that a change of leadership will leave the republic vulnerable. He feeds his apprentice Dooku and the separatists information about the plans of the clone army, and sets traps for us, slowly weakening the Jedi and solidifying his own hold in the senate as time passes. Eventually he will call for an end of the republic, and declare himself Emperor of the new galactic Empire. His regime will be filled with domination, corruption, suffering and oppression for the people of the republic. Eventually, the Senate will be dissolved entirely, and Sideous will have complete control, with his Moffs and grand Moffs and his Regional Governors managing day to day things in their jurisdictions…and me, I suppose.”

“Play what role in this Empire, did you?” Yoda questioned.

“I was his enforcer…the head of his Navy, I terrorised systems into submission, and tried to shut down the Rebellion. I also hunted down Jedi who escaped the purge, although there were others who also undertook this task. In the event of his death, I would have succeeded him, both as the Sith master, and as Emperor.”

“Come about, this did?”

“No, I only briefly outlived Sidious, but I do not believe that the Empire will last long without him at its head. The Moffs and regional governors will fall into petty infighting and squabbling over who is in charge with both Sith dead, and the Rebellion will not take long to wipe them out.” Anakin was confident that the Empire would not have lasted long after his death and the destruction of the Second Death Star, if it hadn’t crumbled apart completely the moment word broke of Palpatine’s death. Luke, Leia and their friends in the Rebellion were all but guaranteed victory, of that Anakin was sure.

“What of the Jedi order?” Plo Koon questioned.

“The Jedi’s numbers were depleted greatly by the drawn out Clone Wars. Most of the Jedi Council were defeated by Sidious when Master Windu took them to confront Sidious when you all began to suspect him. It was a massacre, Master Windu was the only one still standing after the first few moments of the fight. After Master Windu…died, and Sidious had made me his apprentice he…he issued order 66.”

“Order 66?” Mace queried, not appearing at all phased after hearing of his death.

Anakin nodded. This was the part of the interrogation he was particularly not looking forward to. 

“I need to back track a little,” Anakin admitted, “back when Sidious was planning all this, he was the one who ordered the Clone army to be created, and He instructed the Kaminoans to install a chip into the brains of the clones, during a very early stage of their development. For all outward intents and purposes the chip was there to…inhibit some of the more negative aspects of Jango Fett’s personality, to make the Clones less aggressive, easier to control and make them willing to follow orders, robbing them of their free will…” Anakin took a deep breath and focused on Obi-Wan. Now was not the time for him to break off to rant about how the Clones were essentially Slaves, with chips of their own to enforce their compliance.

Obi-Wan gently rested his hand on Anakin’s shoulder, and Yoda’s hand was still resting on Anakin’s flesh arm, and he could feel the soothing encouragement and warmth of them both, helping calm him and reassure him.

“When Master Sifo-Dyas placed the initial order, the chip’s sole purpose was to make the clones less aggressive than Fett, and as a safeguard should a Jedi turn rogue. When Sifo Dyas was murdered by the Sith, however, they took over the project, which the Jedi Council itself was not aware of at the time. Under their direction the directive in the chip referring to rogue Jedi changed. Order 66 was an executive order that all the Clones with a functioning chip would follow. It could only be issued by the Chancellor.”

“The order, what was it?” asked Master Yoda, although Anakin guessed from the droop in Ypda’s ears that the Jedi Master had already guessed.

“Kill all the Jedi.” Anakin sighed.

There was another stir in the room, as various members of the council shuddered at the mere thought of being attacked by their own men. Even at this early stage of the war many of the Jedi generals trusted their clone backing completely. To know that one day the clones would be forced to turn their back and execute the Jedi was sure to be a shock. Anakin had been shocked when he’d learned, and he hadn’t been in a good state of mind at the time, having just fallen.

“Every Jedi leading men that day was attacked by their own troops. I…I took the 501st and marched on the Temple…I didn’t leave any survivors. There were some who lived. Yoda, Obi-Wan and Ahsoka all survived, as did various other Jedi. They were all pursued by both myself, and force sensitives that Sidious called the Inquisitors, but considering the number of Jedi still alive today…there were very few survivors.” 

“The…the younglings?” Master Mundi gasped in horror, his hand over his mouth. 

Anakin bowed his head and nodded. He kept his mouth shut, not sure if he could prevent himself from throwing up if he did.

_“Master Skywalker, there are too many of them. What are we going to do?”_

“A break, young Skywalker needs. Haunted, he is. Take care of your former Padawan, you must, Obi-Wan.”

Anakin was barely aware of Obi-Wan carefully pulling him upright, slinging Anakin’s arm over his shoulder and guiding him out of the Council chamber. Anakin was oblivious to the doors sliding shut behind them. His legs buckled beneath him and he knew Obi-Wan was supporting most of his body weight. At least he didn’t weigh as much now as he did when he was Vader. The suit alone was fairly heavy, and then added the prosthetics.

Anakin was not going to reveal to anyone how many times he tripped in those first few years as Vader. On his own cape, or just because he was still adapting to his leg prosthetics, or the tinted lenses of his mask meaning that he didn’t see something. More than a few Storm troopers and imperial officers experienced a sudden untimely death simply because they’d had the misfortune of seeing Lord Vader trip over his own feet. 

“Anakin…Anakin are you alright?” Obi-Wan inquired, leaning Anakin on a wall and moving so he could get a better view of Anakin’s face.

“You look like you’re about to pass out.”

Anakin grunted, still not trusting himself to open his mouth. No, he was definitely going to be sick.

Luckily there was a refresher quite close to the Council chambers, put there with the knowledge of how long Council meetings could go on for. Anakin and Obi-Wan had both used this particular refresher many times over the years.

He reached the Refresher just in time, hunching over the toilet and heaving up what little food Obi-Wan and Ahsoka had been able to coax him into, his breath coming in pants and sobs as tears rolled down his face yet again.

Anakin jumped reflexively as he felt Obi-Wan’s warm hand brushing up and down his back, his master’s other hand holding back Anakin’s hair, still growing out of it’s short cropped Padawan style at this stage of the war, but still fairly long.

“It’s ok, Anakin, you’re alright, you haven’t hurt anyone yet. The younglings are still fine, it hasn’t happened yet…we’ll make sure of it.”

Anakin could only retch and cough and gag in response until his stomach had settled down, at which point Obi-Wan offered him a cup of water. Anakin’s brow furrowed in confusion.

“Master Windu brought one here for you, you were…rather occupied at the time,” Obi-Wan offered by way of explanation.

Anakin felt his cheeks tinge red in embarrassment at Mace Windu seeing him brought low like this, but said nothing, instead taking to offered cup and sipping, rinsing his mouth out before he drank anything. Ah, swallowing…another simple thing that Mustafar had robbed him of.

“You need to rest, Anakin, you’re still recovering.”

“I’m fine…Where’s Ahsoka?”

The last time he’d seen his Padawan had been when Anakin and Obi-Wan had been heading into the Jedi Council chamber. Ahsoka had wanted to follow them in, but Anakin hadn’t wanted her to witness whatever had been about to happen. He’d half expected to get kicked out of the order immediately. It was still a possibility, he hadn’t even got round to telling them about Padme, but he hadn’t wanted Ahsoka to have to see that. He was going to tell her though, there was no point in hiding the truth from her anyway. Anakin was going to need her help just as much as he needed Obi-Wan’s and even the council in order to defeat Sidious once and for all.

Anakin had half expected Ahsoka to be impatiently waiting outside the Council chamber for them to emerge, eager to hear what had happened, and the state Anakin had been in when he and Obi-Wan had left the chambers…it would have alarmed Ahsoka. He was glad that she hadn’t been there to witness him like that, but now he didn’t know where she was.

“It’s late, Anakin, she back in your quarters.” Obi-Wan reassured gently, “I suggested that she go and sleep while we were meeting with the council. She’s barely slept since you…”

“Slammed back into my 20 year old body after being a Sith Lord?” Anakin supplied.

“Yes, that,” Obi-Wan smiled grimly, “now, come on, you need to rest too. Don’t think that the Council are done grilling you yet.”

“Oh, I know Master,” Anakin let Obi-Wan pull him back upright and lead him back to the quarters he shared with Ahsoka. 


	6. Chapter 6

Sitting alone in his chambers, Anakin gazed thoughtfully out the window at the traffic lines of Coruscant, his arms crossed over his chest. He’d promised Obi-wan and Ahsoka that he would rest, knowing that he would once again face the council when the sun rose once again. For now the sky was darkened, or at least as dark as they ever got, with the lights of Coruscant illuminating the darkness. 

There were so many things Anakin had to fix. Naturally the situation with Palpatine was on top of the list, but Anakin knew that he could not simply jump into that particular situation. Anakin knew that at this point he didn’t have the skill to defeat Sideous. No-one did, Sidious’s defeat of nearly the entire Jedi Council was evidence enough of this. As much as Anakin hated to admit it, there was also the political ramification of Sideous’ position of power, and the Clone Wars as well to consider…not to mention the chips in the heads of the Clones. If Sidious realised that Anakin and the Jedi Council were onto him too early then he might issue order 66 early, and Anakin shuddered as he thought about the potential consequences of that.

Closing his eyes Anakin tried to slip into meditation. Reaching out with the force he picked up a scrap droid part and brought it into his hand, fiddling with the scrap as he let himself sink into the force. He’d discovered over the years that meditation was easier for him if he had something to touch or fix. It was something he’d discovered during the Clone Wars, when he would retreat to the hanger to work on his ships, and later on, during his time as Darth Vader, working on his own suit in his chamber.

As he sunk into his meditation Anakin pondered what else he could change with the knowledge he had now. How he could make things better for the Republic?

Making sure Ahsoka was not falsely accused was the first thing he through of, and helping Satine on Mandalore as well. Anakin inwardly smiled at that particular thought, imagining Obi-Wan’s reaction to Anakin telling him what he knew. Anakin hadn’t learned the truth about Obi-Wan’s history with the Duchess until much later in the war after all.

Also, Anakin pondered who he could trust with the information he carried. Half of his problems had stemmed from his own inability to trust people and seek out there help when he needed it. Anakin, however, had learned from his mistakes, and knew that if they were going to be successful he was going to need help and lots of it.

Obi-Wan and Ahsoka were obvious choices, and Padme as well.

Padme…Anakin’s mouth went dry and his chest ached at the mere thought of seeing her again, alive and well. He hadn’t been well enough to attend her funeral, but he’d visited her memorial on numerous occasions. He’d even bought a house on Naboo and visited it on a semi regular basis during his years as Vader. Each time he’d been there he’d hated himself more and more, knowing that Padme would have been horrified by the monster he’d become.

Anakin knew that he could not conceal the truth from Padme. He would tell her everything about what he’d done, all the people that he’d killed or hurt. He refused to conceal things from her though, their marriage was already full of secrecy and deceit. She would never look at him the same again, possibly never even love him again, but Anakin could take that. It was what he deserved, after what he had done. 

Yes, Anakin would tell Padme, Ahsoka and Obi-Wan everything. He also knew that he had to reveal the truth to Yoda and the rest of the Jedi Council. They were ones that Anakin hadn’t trusted in the past, and probably had been the ones who could have helped him the best. Instead Anakin had focused on how much trouble he’d gotten in during his youth, and how much he’d blamed the Jedi for everything that had happened. While they certainly hadn’t been blameless for the downfall of the Jedi, Anakin was thinking clearly enough to recognize that he should have trusted them more.

Bail Organa was another one that Anakin thought should be included in discussions. Probably Padme’s closest friend in the Senate, and with very similar policies and beliefs, Anakin knew that they had worked well together over the years. With Sideous overthrown the Senate was going to need a strong leader, and Anakin could think of no one better then Bail Organa, if Padme was the one to take charge, and something told Anakin that Padme would probably not choose to push for chancellorship at the current point. If nothing else then it may cause some discord in the Senate if, after the revelation of Palpatine being a corrupt Sith Lord and his subsequent arrest and removal from power, his replacement was from the same planet. Also, Anakin had a great deal of respect for the man who had raised his daughter. Leia might have had Padme’s looks, and Anakin’s determination and stubbornness, but her ethics and beliefs were something she had learned from the cradle from those around her.

Anakin thought about those he had encountered throughout his life. Thinking of Bail brought to mind his step brother Owen Lars, the man who had raised Luke. Ever since Vader had found out the truth about the identity of Luke Skywalker he had hated anyone even remotely involved in keeping them separated. It was obvious that Luke had been barely trained the first time he and Vader had encountered one another, and it had proved that although Luke had been there with Obi-Wan when Vader had killed him, he hadn’t been Obi-Wan’s Padawan, or if he had been they had not gotten very far into training. It had eased a little of Vader’s hatred towards Obi-Wan, especially when he’d done a little digging and discovered the identity of the people who had bought the droids, and then paid for it with their lives.

Having Luke be raised by his step Uncle and Aunt on Tattoine had been a good plan. If there had been one planet in the galaxy that Vader would never step foot on, it was Tattooine. If he wanted to punish himself, Naboo was generally were he went so he could torture himself over Padme’s grave. Anakin shuddered at the mere thought of the sort of havoc the sand of Tattooine would have caused with the life support suit. Certainly Tattooine, and the Lars family, had been the perfect spot for Luke to be brought up, with Obi-Wan close by for an added layer of protection, if needed. Anakin knew that he had spent more time in the company of Bail organa than his own step brother, so it wasn’t like they would have fallen under Vader’s suspicion. For a moment Anakin debated bringing the Lars’ into his confidence, but he dismissed the idea immediately. The concerns of the republic were too big for a family of moisture farmers on Tattooine. While they could provide an element of common sense to discussions, Anakin doubted that they would be able to contribute much that would be helpful. Anakin was sure that they were good people, and he contemplated going to visit them, and his mother’s grave, again when this was all over, but they were better off not involved. 

Anakin had trusted few in his life, especially once he’d become Vader…although one name did come to mind. Anakin searched through his memories from his years as Vader, remembering looking through files and records. 

Yes…he was alive, conveniently newly graduated from a military academy in the outer rim, but Anakin was sure that he would be able to pull some strings and get him transferred onto the Resolute. Vader had seen the potential in the young Firmus Piett, and Anakin wasn’t going to let the best officer he’d ever served with during his time as Vader be wasted chasing pirates in the outer rim while Anakin needed as many good men as he could get. 

Thinking of his time as Vader, Anakin frowned as he thought of the number of individuals he’d encountered that had fully supported Palpatine’s actions and beliefs. Those were the ones that he’d need to watch, especially once Palpatine was removed from office. Sighing, Anakin pulled out a Data pad and began to enter names. He knew he needed to rest, ahead for another round of questioning from the council, but he couldn’t stop. He needed to gather as much information as he could. Not only did he need to note Imperials of note…men like Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin, Grand Admiral Thrawn, Moff Gideon, Admiral Motti and Orson Krennic, but those who Vader knew to be loyal to reinstating of the Republic too, individuals like Bail and Breha Organa, Mon Mothma, Admiral Ackbar, Admiral Raddus, General Rieekan, General Dodonna, General Syndulla and General Madine. There was a part of him that wanted to add Han Solo to the list, and hesitantly he did so, even though he knew that the smuggler was still far too young to be very useful at the moment. Ahsoka too needed to be on the list of Rebels, but Anakin was sure that her involvement was a given anyway, so he left her off.

Closing his eyes Anakin tried to remember who else needed to be noted on his datapad, one way or the other. There were some, like Bariss Offee, who would fall in the coming years, but at the present time they really posed no danger, and Anakin was fairly sure that by avoiding a prolonged war by removing Palpatine from the equation would prevent Bariss from turning to the dark side. Of course, Anakin would never trust Bariss, not after what he had seen her do to Ahsoka, but for the moment he was willing to leave her be.

Settling back into his meditation, Anakin began to comb through his own memories. He cringed as he came across some of Luke’s memories that Vader had observed during his attempts to breach Luke’s shields, although Anakin smiled as he remembered Luke’s memories of meditating in a handstand position.

Anakin had never encountered someone meditating in that position before, and Vader’s life support suit would never had accommodated it, although Anakin let himself snort with laughter at the idea of Vader meditating upside down and Admiral Piett walking in on it.

It didn’t take too long for Anakin to relax into the correct position, his toes pointed to the ceiling, his hands positioned shoulder width apart pressed to the floor. Anakin found it easier than normal to resettle into the meditation, the challenge of keeping his physical position helping him focus without having machinery or droid parts to tinker with. He resumed trawling through his memories…Vader’s memories, trying to skip the more unpleasant ones of Vader’s many crimes, knowing that he would be spending the day focusing on them, and instead trying to remember details that might help.

He also carefully explored his own head. It was…slightly unnerving to be back in his 20 year old mind, although not as strange as it was to be back in his fully functioning, except for his right arm, twenty year old body. It was strange to have his bond with his master still be so strong, and his bond with Ahsoka too, although it was still quite new and was still gaining its strength. There was another bond…the one with Padme. Completely different from the ones with Obi-Wan and Ahsoka, due to Padme not being Force sensitive, it was still there, fuelled by Anakin’s love for Padme. 

Also there, although more connected to Anakin’s Vader linked memories, was the bond with Luke. While that bond had been weak, at best, due to the fact they spent so little time together and how they were on differing sides of a war, it had still been there, forged from the first time Vader had reached out to Luke after Bespin. Now though it was dormant, the other end not giving any sign of existence. Anakin didn’t expect it to, Luke and Leia wouldn’t be conceived for another two years. 

Anakin carefully searched his mind once again, frowning when he felt a slight chill go down his spine. He searched more deeply, using knowledge he’d gained as Vader to probe more deeply into the mind of his twenty year old self. It was there that he found it and he pulled back immediately, reassessing and fortifying his already strong mental shields hurriedly. 

Of course it would already be there. The bond with Palpatine, forged and nourished by Palpatine ever since he’d first met Anakin when Anakin had been a child. The younger Anakin would have simply shrugged off the bond, thinking it was just because of how much he’d looked up to the chancellor, as a friend and mentor. With his memories as Vader, however, Anakin knew the bond was only a sign of the darkness and things to come. The problem was, how could he remove the bond without Sideous being aware of it? Sideous couldn’t even know Anakin was aware of the bond. It was buried so deeply in Anakin’s mind Anakin should never have been able to even find it.

Anakin could feel his anger and hatred growing, furious with Palpatine for his manipulation of Anakin as a child, as well as his own stupidity for not recognising it for what it was. He knew that he wasn’t the only one fooled, but Anakin still hated how naïve he’d been, how desperate he’d been for someone to show they cared. He’d literally latched onto the first few who had shown him kindness after leaving Tattooine, being Padme and the Chancellor, and refused to see what was going on right in front of him.

Exhaling, Anakin released all his negative emotions into the force. Realistically, in hindsight, Anakin knew that he’d never coped well with the Jedi way of life, it was too different to what he was used to growing up in Tattoine. The Jedi Council had been right when Qui Gon had first presented Anakin to them. He’d already been too old. Not because of how far behind he’d been in Jedi knowledge, nor entirely due to his emotions, but because Anakin had grown up used to a certain way of life, of being loved by his mother, and loving her back. Of having his own hopes and dreams, and being his own person (aside from the being a slave thing), not just knowing that his life would be devoted to the order and nothing else. It had been too difficult an adjustment for Anakin to fully make.

“Anakin, what are you doing?”

Anakin opened his eyes, emerging from his meditation, having not even realised that his bedroom door had slid open to reveal Obi-Wan. The sun was just peeping above the skyline of the city. It was the morning.

“Meditating,” Anakin replied as he flipped back onto his feet smoothly, as if the answer to Obi-Wan’s question had been obvious.

“Meditating…of course you were. Is that a …Sith technique?’

“No,” Anakin admitted with a shrug, smiling as he thought of Luke “I just…picked it up from someone.”

“Well, whatever works for you I suppose,” Obi-Wan conceded, although his eyebrow remained quirked upwards in bemusement.

“Oh, Master, can you teach me that?” Ahsoka enthusiastically asked from behind Obi-Wan, poking her head into the room curiously, obviously having seen Anakin’s unorthodox meditating position. 

Anakin laughed, “Of course, I am your Master, aren’t I? Maybe not today though, I have a feeling that I’m going to be spending most of today talking to the Council.”

“Yes, they have summoned us,” Obi-Wan nodded, “but I want you to try and eat something first. Were you able to sleep at all?”

“No,” Anakin admitted, “But I was able to rest while meditating.”

“Anakin, you know that’s not healthy,” Obi-Wan chided, although Anakin knew it was done out of concern for his wellbeing, rather than any sort of anger.

“Yes master, I will try better tonight,” Anakin couldn’t help but roll his eyes as he followed Obi-Wan out of the room.

“Do, or do not, there is no try,” Ahsoka told him with a smile, repeating one of Yoda’s favourite sayings. Anakin laughed and pulled Ahsoka into a gentle half hug.

“Oh, I’ve missed you Snips.”

“I know you have, Skyguy.”


	7. Chapter 7

“Been able to rest, have you Skywalker?” inquired Yoda as Anakin, Obi-Wan and Ahsoka walked into the Jedi Council chamber. Anakin had decided that maybe having Ahsoka there would be the best option, despite thinking otherwise the previous day.

“Honestly, no, Master,” Anakin admitted, “my thoughts were too…chaotic for me to rest, however I was able to meditate, which offered some respite.”

“Glad I am to hear this. Concerned we all are, for your wellbeing.”

Anakin blinked, not expecting Yoda to express this level of concern, although perhaps he should have. He remembered Yoda resting his hand supportively on Anakin’s arm, only the previous day, “I…thank you.”

“Information you have for us?” Yoda prompted. 

Anakin nodded, handing over the datapad, “these are the names of Palpatine’s supporters, those who have the most to lose should he be defeated.”

Mace Windu looked at the names, “I don’t see Count Dooku or General Grevious on here?”

Anakin cringed. He’d somehow forgotten about them, and the rest of the Separatist leaders. Also, he needed to tell them about Maul, as much as it would hurt Obi-Wan.

“That was my error,” Anakin apologised with a bow, “by the time things…came to a head last time I lived through the Clone Wars, and Sideous played his hand, both Dooku and Grevious had already been defeated, or were very close to being defeated, I’m not quite sure when exactly Obi-Wan killed Grevious in relation to when Order 66 happened. I killed the other leaders of the Separatists after I’d dealt with the immediate threat of the Jedi. They had all been sent to a single location to away instruction by Sideous, and he sent me to kill them all.”

“Take place where, this confrontation did?”

Anakin swallowed, “Mustafar,” he replied.

“Great discomfort, this place brings you?”

“It…it was a place that changed me…considerably,” Anakin admitted. He felt Obi-Wan take his shoulder reassuringly, and Ahsoka was sending waves of comfort through their bond. 

“Changed…how so. Fallen already you had, yes?”

“Yes,” Anakin replied, “Mustafar…Mustafar was where Obi-Wan caught up with me. It was where…it was where I thought I’d killed the one I’d fallen to save…it was where…it was where I felt as if the greatest betrayals took place.”

“Fought your former master, you did?”

“Yes.”

“Victorious were you?”

“No. Obi-Wan had the higher ground. I…I tried to take it, and he cut me down. I fell, near the lava…close enough for what was left of my body to…to burn. Obi-Wan…couldn’t finish it, so he left me there. Palpatine found me and brought me back to Coruscant.”

”Severe your injuries were?”

“I lost both legs and my remaining arm,” Anakin tried to pretend he was issuing just another report to the council, not relaying his own injures, although the memories were creeping back. He could feel the pain of burning, of the long surgeries and treatments that followed, the intense agony that he’d lived with persistently for the rest of his life.

“I…my lungs were badly damaged, I could only breath freely in my specialised hyperbaric chamber, and even then for only short periods of time. I could no longer eat or drink independently, I received all nutrients through tubing. I had deep burns to over 90 percent of my body.”

The Jedi council was quiet for a moment, exchanging horrified glances with one another.

“Unpleasant this sounds,” Yoda offered eventually.

“I was in constant agony,” Anakin admitted, “I used the pain to channel the dark side and make myself stronger.”

“After fallen you had, feel about yourself, how did you?”

“I hated myself. It…didn’t take me long to realise that by my own actions I’d condemned myself to a life that I thought I’d escaped when I was nine years old.”

“Slavery?” Mace Windu offered, his fingers laced together thoughtfully. 

Anakin nodded, “I was the second most powerful individual in the galaxy, but…but it felt the same as it did back on Tattooine.”

“Discuss this at more length we will,” Yoda promised solemnly, “two groups of names, you have presented. The other group with Senator Organa, and others, on it, what significance are they?”

“Those names are the founding…and leading members of a group that eventually became known as the Rebel Alliance. They were the ones who will, with the downfall of Sideous, dismantle the Empire. They are allies of the Jedi, or will be. I know that multiple Jedi were members of the alliance. Or at least, I suspect they were. I know that there were at least two that were heavily involved, one from the Rebellions formation, and another who got involved in the latter years of the Empire.”

“No Jedi on this list, there are.”

“I left them off. Ahsoka is one of them.”

Anakin felt Ahsoka shift behind him, and glanced over his shoulder to check on his Padawan.

“Me?” Ahsoka questioned.

“Yeah, you Snips. Like you were ever going to take something like the Empire without fighting back, despite everything else that had happened.” Anakin told her proudly. Ahsoka smiled back at him, although it was weaker than normal. Maybe having her in the room while he’d discussed his injuries hadn’t been such a good idea. It was still early in the Clone Wars, and Anakin had forgotten how painfully young she was. 

“Know some of these names I do, but not others.” Yoda observed. “This Han Solo for one.”

“At this point he would be little more than a boy,” Anakin replied, “He was from Corellia. From what information I could find about him he would be about ten or eleven years old now.”

“Of course,” Yoda nodded, “Strange it must be for you to consider that those that were once adults are now but children.”

“Or not even born yet,” Anakin nodded, thinking of Luke and Leia.

Yoda nodded, “helpful these will be, Allies, I fear, the Jedi Council will need.

“I also plan to transfer a recent graduate from the Military Academy onto the Resolute. He was by far the most competent office I worked with while leading the Navy of the Empire.”

Mace Windu leaned forward, “Can he be trusted?”

“I believe so,” Anakin nodded.

“I have a question, if I may,” interjected Plo Koon.

Everyone in the room redirected their attention to the Kel Dor Master.

“Of course, Master Koon,” invited Yoda

“Yesterday you spoke of having fallen and being a Sith for many years prior to your death and then…coming back in time, Knight Skywalker, but yet I cannot sense the Dark Side in you at all. Yes, you are suffering, undoubtedly troubled by the memories you carry, but you are certainly not a Sith at the moment. I am aware that Dark Side shrouds and conceals everything, and what you have had to say about the identity of the Sith Lord makes this all the more apparent. I suppose what I am trying to say is…was it coming back in time that caused you to return to the light, or did this happen prior to your death and becoming one with the Force?”

“An excellent question this is,” Yoda nodded in agreement, as did various other members of the council.

“I…I returned to the light prior to my death.”

A murmur went around the Jedi Council chamber, “there have not been many cases of someone who has fallen, especially for such a long period of time, returning to the light,” observed Mace Windu.

Yoda nodded, “True this is. Not unheard of, but very rare. Only a couple of times in all Jedi history this has happened, and not for many, many years.”

Anakin blinked in surprise. He didn’t know that. The Jedi discouraged learning about those who had fallen to the dark side of the force, other than to use them as examples of what not to do, and Sideous had never mentioned any Sith turning back to the light, not that Anakin really expected him to. Sideous had Anakin right where he wanted him, why would he introduce the idea of Jedi who turned back to the light.

“I’m not the first?”

“No, but first in my lifetime you have been. Not very often now does something happen which I have not witnessed before,” Yoda chuckled

“How did you come back?”

Anakin hesitated before replying. This was getting into risky territory, “I…I suppose, the same way I ended up falling,” he admitted, his brow furrowing a little as he really thought about it, “I was trying to save someone who I loved.”

“A powerful emotion love is, capable of many things, both good and bad,” agreed Yoda.

“I…Sideous wanted to force the one I loved to fall, to kill me and to succeed me in my place at Sideous’ side,” Anakin elaborated, “I knew what sort of life my…the one I loved would live. It would destroy him. He was so bright, like a sun, and Sideous would break him. He turned Sideous down though, he was stronger than I was, threw his Lightsabre to the side. Sideous was furious and hit him with lightning. He…he was begging me for help and…and I knew that returning to the light was the only thing I could do to save him.”

“Were you able to?” Plo Koon asked.

Anakin frowned, drawn form his own turbulent memories and thoughts by the Master’s question, “Sorry?” 

“Were you able to save him?”

“Yes.” Anakin nodded, “I was able to save him, and he saved me. He held me in his arms as I died.”

“Know the cause of your death, do you?”

“The lightning. When I saved my…the one I care about I absorbed the lightning he was subject to. It…it badly damaged the suit, and what was left of my body. The electrics in the breathing apparatus were destroyed, and I could sense that my remaining physical organs had been badly damaged.”

“One electrocution too many?” Obi-Wan teased, trying to lighten the mood of the room, probably for Ahsoka’s sake than for anyone else. It was a running joke between Anakin and his former Master of how often Anakin got electrocuted.

Several members of the council, including Mace Windu, however, looked more than a tad uncomfortable, and Anakin guessed they were imagining it.

“Thank you for answering my question, I apologise if it caused you any distress.”

“After what I have done, Master Koon, my distress is the last thing the Council should be worried about.”

“Wrong, you are. These events, happened, they have not,” Interrupted Yoda, tapping his stick against his chair, “Distress, we do not want you to experience. A Jedi, you still are, and will remain.”

“Yes Master,” Anakin replied with a respectful inclination of his head.

“Now, tell us, is there any way we can prove the Chancellor’s role as a Sith?”

Anakin sighed, “I don’t know, he kept his cards very hidden until just when he wanted to play them. Dooku is the only one who knows his real identity, and he’s not about to tell us anything. There is other information I need to give you.”

“Bad news, I take it from your tone?” inquired Mace Windu. Anakin nodded.

“Unfortunately. Darth Maul is still alive.”

Many of the masters around the room gasped in surprise, or otherwise physically showed their shock at the unexpected news. Even Yoda looked unsettled by Anakin’s bombshell. None of their reactions were as obvious as Obi-Wan’s though. He had once again positioned himself beside Anakin, and Anakin could physically feel his former Master tense, and through their bond Anakin could sense how shocked obi-Wan was.

  
Anakin turned to his former Master apologetically, “I’m sorry, Master, I should have said something to you earlier, but I was too focused on Sideous and…”

“Shhh, it’s alright, Anakin…just…just give me a moment,” Obi-Wan rested his hand reassuringly

“Maul…are you sure?”

“Yes. Due to the Sith Rule of Two Sideous no longer considers Maul to be Sith. He’s dangerous now, more than he ever was before. He hates Obi-Wan, now more than ever.”

“What is Maul doing currently?”

“Building his strength. He’s working with his brother, Savage Opress, who he has taken as an apprentice. He’ll become a Crime Lord, allying himself with crime Lords and syndicates including the Black Sun, the Hutts and the Pyke Syndicate, forming his own Criminal group, the Shadow Collective. Eventually, he will form connections with the Mandalorian Death Watch, and will be responsible for the overthrow of the New Mandalorian government, installing his own puppet government in it’s place. He…um…” Anakin faded off, not sure if he should go any further in front of the Jedi Council. While he knew that eventually he would have to reveal his and Padme’s secret to the council, Anakin knew that it wouldn’t be right for him to reveal Obi-Wan’s own romantic interlude with the Duchess of Mandalore, especially as, at this point, they hadn’t seen each other since they were teenagers.

“Say no more, enough you have told us,” Yoda told him reassuringly, although Anakin’s mention of the Mandalorian system, specifically its government, had made Obi-Wan noticeably pale.

“This is concerning,” Mace Windu announced gravely, leaning forward as he looked at the other people in the room, not just his fellow council members, but Anakin as well, ‘not only do we have two Sith Lords, and an apprentice in the Chancellor, Count Dooku, and Ventress, but we have Maul and his own apprentice. Not to mention General Grevious.”

“Don’t forget that every single Clone could turn on us with a single command from the Chancellor,” added Plo Koon solemnly.

“We need proof of the Chancellor’s identity before we do anything, damning proof that we could present to the senate,” Obi-Wan reasoned, “Anakin is there anything you can think of…anything at all?”

“I’ve been trying,” Anakin replied, “At this point he kept everything very hidden, even his …”Anakin’s eyes widened as it dawned on him. Sideous’ greatest project, the place where Obi-Wan died, the weapon that destroyed his daughter’s home world and murdered millions, the first place where he sensed Luke’s presence. 

The Death Star


	8. Chapter 8

“Anakin…Anakin? Anakin!” Obi-Wan’s voice cut through Anakin’s thoughts and Anakin blinked back to awareness, not even having realised that he’d zoned out. Obi-Wan was standing right in front of him, on hand on Anakin’s shoulder the other braced around Anakin’s upper arm.

“The Death Star” Anakin offered softly.

“What?”

“The Death Star, Sideous’ pride and joy, his greatest project. Construction would have just started on it, and I know where he’s got a set of the plans.”

“What is this Death Star?” Mace Windu asked.

“A battle station, far bigger than any Star Destroyer or ship built to date,” Anakin replied, “it was under the control of Grand Moff Tarkin, or at least, the first one was.”

“A Battle Station?” queried Obi-Wan.

“It has the fire power to destroy an entire planet in one shot.”

A stunned silence followed Anakin’s announcement.

“An…An entire planet?” Plo Koon choked out.

Anakin nodded, “I…I witnessed what it was capable of. I was on the bridge when it was fired.”

“How…How many planets?”

“One…Alderaan.”

“How…how could a weapon so powerful be developed?”

“The Superlaser was powered by eight enormous kyber crystals,” Anakin explained, “the laser beams produced by the power reactors powered by the crystals were directed into one large beam. Whoever was firing could control how many of the reactors were used, to impact on how much damage to a planet could be done. Even on the lowest setting, however, one eighth of a planet’s surface would be destroyed. The first Death Star was not very accurate, but with that kind of destruction it wasn’t considered problematic. After being fired it also had a slow recharge time, needing a day between being fired.”

“The first Death Star, there was more than one?”

“There was only supposed to be one,” Anakin replied, “but once it was destroyed Sideous commissioned a second, more accurate and with a faster recharge time. This one was accurate enough to hit a capital ship, and only needed five hours to recharge, but it was never fired at a planet before, well…I assume the rebellion destroyed it…it felt like it was about to implode, but I died before it actually happen, so I can’t be certain.

“There is a way to destroy this Death Star?’ Mace Windu enquired.

“Yes, a small thermal exhaust port, no more than a few metres wide, in the Meridian trench. Proton torpedoes fired into this exhaust port would reach the main reactor and cause a chain reaction which would cause the entire thing to blow up.”

“Surely that is an impossible shot?” Master Mundi shook his head in dismay.

“Not for Anakin,” Oni-Wan replied proudly.

“You forget, I was one of the ones trying to protect the damn thing,” Anakin shook his head, “I mean, I could have and now, yes, definitely, I volunteer to destroy it, but we need in in once piece to convince the Senate that they’ve been deceived, especially as the Republic have been funding it, along with the Separatists. Shortly after the outbreak of the Clone Wars Sideous held a meeting of 150 individuals, who still meet on a semi regular basis at the summit of the Strategic planning amphitheatre of the centre for military operations. These include the Strategic Advisory Cell, along with select Senators, including the chancellor and Vice Chancellor, representatives from Corellian Engineering, the Kuat Drive Yard, high ranking members of the military, members of the War Production Board, along with various star ship engineers and designers and others. Lots of big names at those meetings.”

“Disturbing this is, when leading the military we are,” Yoda ventured, looking worried.

“It’s how they’ve had unlimited access to funding, and been able to construct the project in the first place. The rest of the republic don’t know about it. Can you imagine what the rest of the Senate would say if they found out, especially when they find out it’s being built over Geonosis?”

“Why would so many support it’s construction in the first place?’

“Because fear, they do, that the separatists have their own Death Star,” Yoda surmised, and Anakin nodded in agreement.

“Which they don’t, just for the record.”

“Help us greatly this does,” Yoda told the assembled Jedi, “but not enough, it is. Fearful the Senate in, and many corrupted by Sideous, or by own desires and ambition, there are.”

“Not all,” Obi-Wan was quick to interject, shooting a quick glance at Anakin. Anakin, who had been able to protest that Padme would never be corrupt, quickly clenched his mouth shut, although he gave Obi-Wan a quick, appreciative look.

Yoda nodded, gesturing to Anakin’s data pad, “Yes, not all. Allies and Friends, the order still has.”

“Anakin, do you know where the plans are kept, right now?” queried Mace Windu

“No, I have a suspicion, but I can’t be certain,” Anakin admitted.

“Begin to make plans, we can. Speak of what we have discussed to no one, at this stage, not even within the Jedi order, or our allies outside of it. Prepare we must, for the worst. Get the Younglings out of Coruscant, we must, and away from the Clones, should issued this order 66 be.”

“We can smuggle them out and hide them at Jedi temples,” Mace Windu nodded, “along with the archives, we cannot let that information fall into the hands of a Sith.

“Is there a way to remove these chips?” Plo Koon questioned. Anakin smiled at the Master, knowing how much he cared about the men under his command.

“Yes, but we would have to do it without the Senate, or the chancellor being aware, and only if the Clone consented to it. It is a very invasive process, and locating the chip can be difficult.” 

“Of course” Plo Koon nodded.

  
“Begin to talk to your clones, you may, discretely,” Yoda decided, “Their aid, I fear, we will greatly need. Many things to do, we have. Get started, we all must.”

Taking the dismissal for what it was, Anakin bowed to the Jedi Council, and began to walk out of the room. Now that he had something else to focus on other than his past, or rather, future deeds, he found he was coping better, and surprisingly his overnight medidation session had proven benficial.

“Master…Skyguy, what are we going to do?”

“We’re going to talk to Cody, Rex and Kix about the chips,” Anakin replied, “it’s the first step we can take to prevent the complete destruction of the order.”

“Master…I still don’t get what is going on?” Ahsoka admitted. Obi-Wan, who was walking alongside them, rested his hand on Anakin’s arm.

“I’ll comm Cody, tell him that we want to talk to him, here, within the temple. You tell Ahsoka what you need to.”

“Thank you, Obi-Wan,” Anakin smiled appreciatively, “come on, Snips, there is some things that I need to talk to you about.”

Obi-Wan headed off on his own to send the message, leaving Anakin and Ahsoka alone as they continued on towards their shared quarters.

“Ok,” Ahsoka replied, looking pleased that she was finally being let in on what on earth was going on. Anakin felt guilty for having left her in the dark, but he’d needed to sort his own thoughts out first, and now he felt that he mostly had a grip on things.

They let themselves into their apartment, and Anakin sat down heavily on his favourite spot on the couch. Ahsoka sat down in her spot beside him. 

“IS this about…what you were saying on the Resolute?’ she asked. 

Anakin nodded, rubbing his hands wearily over his face. In his mind he could see, through Vader’s eyes, the look of horror on an older Ahsoka’s face as she realised who Vader really was. 

“The truth is…I know who the Sith Lord is because in the future, I become his apprentice.”

“What?” Ahsoka whispered, her eyes round with shock, “but…why?”

“Because he’d been manipulating me...grooming me for it, since I first joined the temple…and because I made some ridiculously bad choices. Through the course of the Clone War I’d been isolated from everyone I cared about, until I could either no longer trust them, or was separated from them. Then I had some visions which scared me. I couldn’t find the answers I wanted through the Jedi, so I went to the Chancellor, as a friend…a mentor, and he told me that he could help me…In the end, I enslaved myself to him and the Jedi order were destroyed.”

“Destroyed? How?”

“In the head of every Clone there is a behaviour control chip. Initially Master Syfo-Dyas included it as a way to temper the aggressive nature of the original host, Jango Fett, but ten years ago, after Master Syfo-Dyas was killed by Count Dooku and Sideous, they took over the project, installing executive orders and the like onto the chips. If one of these orders is issued by the chancellor, every Clone will obey, whether they want to or not.”

“All of them?”

Anakin reached out and gently pulled Ahsoka into a comforting hug, “all of them” he confirmed, “the few that were able to resist it…were killed by their brothers, or at least they tried to. I’ve heard rumours that Rex survived, and that he got his chip removed so he could protect you.”

“How do you know all this?”

Anakin sighed, “Because I’ve lived it. I’ve seen the Galaxy change, Snips, I was one of the ones enforcing the change. The republic was torn apart by Sideous. He declared the Republic and Empire, and himself the Emperor. He ruled a regime of fear and I was his weapon. For twenty three years I was a monster that children had nightmares about.”

“But you came back. That’s what you send to the Council, that you were able to come back to the light?”

“Yes, I was able to come back,” Anakin reassured, “and I died in the arms of someone I cared a lot about.”

“Obi-Wan?”

“No…No I’d killed Obi-Wan about four years earlier.”

“You…You what?”

“I cut him down, he became one with the force instantly. I was convinced it was some sort of trap. I hated him for what he’d done to me, leaving me to burn on mustafar, not that I can blame him now. It’s probably a good thing I killed him when I did, because if he’d still been alive a few years later when I learned what he’d been up to in the years following my fall, well…I wouldn’t have given him a quick passing.”

“What had he been doing?”

Anakin liked his lips, slightly nervous now, “You know that sometimes I…let my emotions rule me, whenever Pad…Senator Amidala is in danger.”

“Yes, I think everyone knows that.”

“It’s because we’re secretly married.”

Ahsoka’s eyes went even wider, “Married…Master…you and Senater Amidala are married.”

“I haven’t told the Jedi Council about that part yet,” confessed Anakin quickly, “so don’t go telling people. Obi-Wan knows, I told him after I came back from…witnessing everything that was about to happen.”

“Married, as in that its already happened?”

“Yes, it happened just after the first battle on Geonosis,” Anakin replied with a wry smile.

“Well, looks like Rex was right.”

“Wait…what?” Now Anakin was confused. 

Ahsoka shrugged, “the 501st had wagers on what was actually going on. Some of them bet it was just an act to cover for you and Obi-Wan, while others thought you were only boyfriend and girlfriend. Rex and Fives were definitely in the ‘they’re married’ pool.”

“And what did you think?’ Anakin couldn’t help but smile.

“That there was definitely something going on, but that it hadn’t gotten that far yet, not that I was involved. We thought it wouldn’t be proper, since I was your Padawan and everything.”

Anakin snorted, “Obi-Wan’s manners must have rubbed off on you, I wouldn’t have been so…considerate.”

Ahsoka smiled, but it wasn’t convincing, “Master…are you alright?”

“Why wouldn’t I be?” Anakin quipped in response. Ahsoka, however, didn’t laugh, or even smile, and the smile slid off Anakin’s face.

“Look, Snips,” Anakin sighed and leaning forward, resting his weight on his elbows, “It…I won’t say that it’s easy, but it’s what I did. There is no-one I can blame but myself. I know that I keep talking about how the Chancellor manipulated me, but I was the one who chose to fall, he didn’t force me to do it. I could have said no and jumped off the edge of a gantry.”

“Master?” Ahsoka’s frown deepened.

Anakin shook his head, “never mind, just a…something that actually happened.”

“It sounds like something you would do.”

Anakin smiled, “It actually wasn’t me…although you are right…it does sound like something I would do.” 

“Is there anything I can…help with?” Ahsoka asked.

Anakin sighed again and leaned back against the sofa, “I’m Sorry,” he apologised.

Ahsoka reached out and took Anakin’s flesh hand in her own.

“What for?”

“For everything I did to you.”

‘You haven’t done anything to me, other than be the best Master ever.”

“Don’t let Obi-Wan hear you say that,” Anakin sighed, “he might get jealous.”

“No, he’ll just try and take the credit and say it was because he taught you everything you know.”

“Well, he wouldn’t be wrong,” admitted Anakin, “I don’t know what would have happened if Obi-Wan hadn’t taken me as his Padawan. Things could have ended up very differently…better, or worse…not that I could imagine things getting much worse than it did.”

“It’s OK, Skyguy…we’re doing something about it. We’ll deal with the chancellor and everything will work out for the best, you’ll see.”

Anakin nodded, forcing himself to stay positive and focus on the present, rather than try and speculate what was going to happen in the future.“

“I’m still sorry,” he told Ahsoka, who barely managed to restrain herself from rolling her eyes.

“What for?”

“For the maelstrom you’re about to get dragged into. You thought the Clone Wars were bad already. It’s about to get worse…so much worse, and we’re going to be stuck right in the middle of it.”

“We’ll be fine,” Ahsoka told him confidently, “as long as we stay together with Master Kenobi and the other allies you talked about we’ll be ok.”


	9. Chapter 9

Anakin hesitated before he knocked his metal fingers again the door, shifting his weight from foot to foot as if he were a youngling caught in some sort of mischief. Considering he was standing outside the room of Master Yoda, he was fairly sure he was not the only one who had been standing here nervously. He himself had stood here nervously on numerous occasions as both a Padawan, and as a knight during the Clone Wars too.

The door slid open, however, before Anakin could even tap against it it. Master Yoda was sitting on his Meditation mat, peering across the room at him.

“Much to think about on my doorstep you have, hmmm?”

“Yes Master,” Anakin admitted, lowering his hand and his head guiltily. His conversation with Ahsoka had helped, his Padawan’s youthful optimism, not yet jaded and dragged down by the Clone Wars, and the actions of the Council, brightening his own darkened thoughts.

“Come, sit with me, much we have to talk about,” invited Yoda, gesturing to the meditation mat opposite from him. Anakin heeded the invitation, sitting down crossed legged on the mat.

“Arranged have you, to talk with your Clone Commanders?”

“Yes, Obi-Wan, Ahsoka and I will be meeting with them this afternoon,” Anakin told Yoda, who nodded, visibly pleased.

“Good this is, get as much done, we must, before suspect the Sith do. Something you want to talk to me about, you have? Or many somethings?”

“Many sounds about right,” admitted Anakin, “there are some things I…was not comfortable talking about in front of the whole Council, despite now understanding that it is better for me to trust others.”

“Difficult it is to break a habit formed over a lifetime,” Yoda nodded, “but trying you are, progress there is. Proud of you, I am.”

Anakin blinked in surprise… “thank you, Master,” he bowed his head respectfully.

“Now, what is it that you would like to discuss?”

“During my meditations last night I searched my mind for clues…memories that may help us, knowledge that I need to share with the council…and I found something. I never realised it had started so early, although I should have. I found a bond with the Chancellor.”

“Worrying this is,” frowned Yoda, “that such a bond exists. Think, do you that this bond existed already prior to your coming back into your younger body?

“Was it there already, or is it the same bond that I had with Sideous when I was his apprentice?” clarified Anakin. Yoda nodded in corfirmation.

“it…it’s from now. The bond we had when I was Vader…it was different. Stronger…darker. This feels like it’s not as strong.”

Yoda nodded in understanding, although still looked concerned by Anakin’s revelation.

Anakin exhaled nervously, still relishing being able to control his own breathing, “Master Yoda…with this bond in existence already between the Sith Lord and I, and presuming the bond was there last time as well…would it be possible for him to put…visions in my head…dreams, if you like?”

Yoda rumbled thoughtfully, “Possible it is, had a dream have you?”

“No, not yet,” Anakin admitted, feeling nauseous once again, “but last time I did. It was…it was a significant factor towards my falling to the Dark Side.”

“Wondering are you, if planted this dream you had the Sith did, or if it was a true force vision?”

“Yes,” Anakin nodded

“Difficult it is to know the difference, and impossible if the vision has yet to be dreamt,” Yoda told him, “but likely it is that the Sith made the vision and planted it, using this force bond to do so.”

Anakin looked down at his hands, guilt washing over him like a flood.

“So she might have lived, if I hadn’t…hadn’t fallen. I did kill her, by my actions. Sideous was right.”

“Tell me, will you, whose death brings such distress?” Yoda gently enquired. Anakin felt his breath hitch, and tears rolled down his face, but he wiped them away and looked up at the Jedi Grand Master. It was time to come clean.

“Senator Padme Amidala,” he told Yoda, “She and I…I have broken the Jedi code. Padme and I are married. I…Sideous planted a vision of her dying in childbirth.”

“Against the Jedi code this is,” chastised Yoda sternly, “but…more important things there are to consider. After the visions you had of your mother when captured she was, you thought that these dreams too were omens of the future?”

Anakin nodded, “he said that he could save her, that there was a Sith legend that could save someone when they were dying. After my fall she confronted me on Mustafar. Obi-Wan had snuck on board, knowing that she would lead him to me, but I don’t think she knew. When I saw him I choked her, convinced that she’d brought Obi-Wan there deliberately…that she’d betrayed me. and That’s when Obi-Wan and I fought, he was trying to get me to stop, to let her go. She was unconscious when I let her go. After I…woke up in the suit Sideous informed me that I’d killed her.”

“The truth it was?’

“No,” Anakin shook his head, “although she still died. I thought for years that I’d been the one to do it, but then I learned the truth. She lived long enough to give birth, to name our children.”

“Children had you? Seen you with your Padawan, I have. A good father, you will make.” Yoda smiled, nodding.

Anakin shook his head, “not when I was Darth Vader. I…I tortured my daughter for information, before I even knew who she was. They were raised in secret, separated from each other. My daughter was raised by Bail and Breha Organa on Alderaan, my son was brought up by my Step brother and his wife on Tattooine, with Obi-Wan close by for protection. It was my son that I learned about first, the best pilot in the Rebellion, the one who destroyed the Death Star. I tried to bring him to the dark side, try and convince him to become my apprentice and help me overthrow Sideous so we could rule together. He refused, and we fought. I cut off my own son’s hand. I was a figure in both of their nightmares.

“And yet, your son’s love for you brought you back to the light side of the force?”

“Yes. He had great capacity for love. He was so bright in the force…like a sun. I…I couldn’t stand by and do nothing when Sidious tried to kill him.”

“Proud you are of what achieved, he did?”

“Yes, I know it is not the Jedi way, but I am proud of him, and my daughter too.”

“Alright it is, to feel pride in the achievements in our Padawans, in the younglings and those of our line” Yoda offered, “no different this is. It is being overly proud in ourselves the code discourages.”

Anakin smiled and nodded in acceptance of the master’s words.

“What should we do about the bond?”

“Help you to construct a shield around it, I will. Strong it must be, for too risky it is to remove the bond completely. Detect it, he will, and suspect why. Suspicion is the way of the Sith. Protect your thoughts and dreams, a shield will, prevent the bond getting stronger this will also achieve.”

Anakin nodded, and Yoda shifted a little closer, taking Anakin’s hands in his own, small, clawed ones.

“Meditate with me then.”

STAR WARS

“Where did you duck off too?” Obi-Wan asked with a quirked brow and a teasing look on his face. Anakin felt his cheeks colour as he entered the room. It was obvious that Obi-Wan thought that Anakin had slipped away to meet with Padme.

“I actually went and talked about some things with master Yoda,” Anakin replied, enjoying the look of surprise on Obi-Wan’s face.

“Oh, well…that’s good. Anything I need to be aware of?”

“Probably,” admitted Anakin, thinking of the force bond he’d found deep in his mind, the one Sideous had forged without Anakin even being aware of it, “I told him about Padme.”

“That…that took bravery Anakin. I’m impressed. Did he say anything?”

“He said that the situation with Sideous was more pressing and it will be discussed further at a later point in time,” Anakin shrugged. He didn’t like having the consequences for his decision to break the Jedi Code hanging over his head, but Yoda was right, they needed to deal with Sideous before anything else happened. 

“Fair enough,” Obi-Wan nodded.

“And besides, Padme’s currently off world with Bail Organa dealing with some Senate business.”

“Ah, I see,” it was Obi-Wan’s turn to blush a little.

“So, you haven’t spoken to her since you came back?” enquired Ahsoka. Anakin dropped heavily into a chair. They were in Obi-Wan’s apartment, his rank as a member of the council allowing him slightly bigger chambers. Anakin and Ahsoka’s apartment was fine for the two of them, especially when they spent so much time away from Coruscant, but when it was going to be the three of them, plus Cody, Rex and Kix, with the possibility of one or more of the other members of the council joining them, Obi-Wan’s was the better option.

“No,” Anakin shook his head.

“Why…I would have thought you wanted to see her?” Obi-Wan looked surprised.

“It’s been…23 years since you last saw her.”  
  
“The last time I saw her I almost killed her,” Anakin pointed out, “I am the reason she died. She would have hated what I become.”

“But you aren’t a Sith now,” Ahsoka protested, “you’re still you.”

“I know, Snips. I know I should talk to her, but…”

“but you don’t know how to tell her?” Obi-Wan offered. Anakin nodded weakly

“I want to tell her everything but it would put her in so much danger. She has more contact with Sideous than any of us, and she can’t protect herself, she doesn’t have the ability to shield her mind against his. If he were to suspect that we knew who he was she’d be the first person he’d interrogate about it.”

Ahsoka’s face fell, having obviously not considered this, although Obi-Wan seemed to understand.

“This is a challenging situation for you,” he sympathised.

“I know I have to tell her that I’ve let people know about us, but I don’t know what else I should tell her. She’s going to notice that I’ve changed, I know I’m acting differently to how I did the last time I was twenty. We also need her to be involved, she should be one of the senators we bring in to deal with the Death Star and make our allegations against Sideous. She’s one of the Jedi order’s biggest supporters in the Senate, we need her backing us.”

Obi-Wan and Ahsoka were saved from having to reply when there was a knocking on the door. Obi-Wan went and answered it, letting in Cody, Rex and Kix. They all removed their helmets when they entered the room, and Anakin felt himself smile as he beheld the clones. 

By the time of his death there hadn’t been any Clones still in the Imperial Navy. He’d kept on as many as he could in the 501st, but the numbers had dropped and dropped until there were no more left. Sideous had turned his back on the whole program, preferring to use ordinary men in his armed forces. Many of them had died over the course of various conflicts, but the others had been victims of the accelerated aging used during their creation. The rate of defections among clones was also high than among the regular human troops, something that had been attributed to the ageing and failing of the chips in the Clones…the verty same chip that had made Order 66 possible. Horrified by their actions and betrayal of their Jedi Generals and Commanders, the clones had turned their backs on the Empire, and more than a few had taken their own life, consumed by guilt over their perceived betrayal.

None of that had happened yet though, and Cody, Rex and Kix were all standing there in front of him.

“You called us here, Sirs?” Cody asked.

“Yes,” Obi-wan nodded, “there has been a development…make yourselves comfortable. Would anyone like some Tea?”

Cody and Kix indicated that they would like some tea, and all three Clones settled down in Obi-Wan’s seating area.

“You look a lot better than the last time I saw you, General,” Rex commented lightly as Obi-Wan busied himself preparing the tea.

“I’ll say,” Agreed Kix, “no offence, Sir, but you looked like death warmed over on the Resolute.”

“I’m getting there, don’t worry,” reassured Anakin. It was the truth. As time passed he had gotten used to breathing independently again, his twenty year old body automatically doing it for him. It was only in moments of silence when Anakin would register the silence and forget himself, panicking a little before he remembered that he didn’t need the suit to survive.

“You’re one of our Generals,” argued Rex with a smile, “it’s our job to worry.”

“You’re worried now? Give it an hour and it will be worse, trust me,” Ahsoka told them with a wry smile.

“Are you alright General?” Kix was definitely concerned now, “you aren’t sick are you?”

“No, I’m not sick,” Anakin sighed, shooting a sideways look at Ahsoka, who looked immediately apologetic.

“No one is going to die,” reaffirmed Obi-Wan, bringing over the tea for the Clones, and then seating himself, “that’s what we’re here to talk about. Preventing deaths.”

“Isn’t that what we’ve been fighting for all along?” Cody asked.

“Yes,” Obi-Wan nodded, “it is, but…but we’ve recently learned something that…could lead to the deaths of many, both Jedi and Clones.”

“What? Is it a Separatist plot?”

“No,” Anakin shook his head, deciding to take the lead in the conversation. He glanced at Obi-Wan, who nodded in understanding.

“It’s not the Separatists,” Anakin continued, “It’s a Sith plot…one that dates back to the creation of the first clones.”

“Aren’t Separatist plots the same as Sith plots. Aren’t’ they the same thing?’ Cody inquired.

“Quite often, yes, but this plot…it doesn’t involve anyone other than Dooku and his master. I have no reason to suspect that anyone under Dooku is aware of this plot, or at least, the depth of the plot. Some of the Kaminoans have got to be aware of it, I suppose.”

“What is this plot?’ frowned Kix.

“All Clones have chips implanted in their skulls,” Anakin began, “they are designed to inhibit certain behaviours, but there is coding on this chip…coding that is designed to make you all respond to certain orders from the Chancellor. One of these orders is to kill all of the Jedi.”

The three Clones looked horrified, “I would never hurt any of you,” protested Cody, and Rex and kix nodded empathetically beside the Commander.

“We wouldn’t.”

“Why would I kill you when I’ve spent so much time patching you all up?”

“You wouldn’t have a choice,” interjected Obi-Wan.

“And if you did manage to ignore the coding every clone who was around you would turn on you as a Jedi sympathiser.”

The horror deepened on the face of the Clones.

“I’ve seen it happen,” Anakin admitted, “Cody and the 212th tried to kill Obi=Wan, and Rex and Ahsoka had to fight off half the 501st after Rex got his chip removed.”

“What about Kix?” Rex inquired.

“He…wasn’t involved,” Anakin evaded. Kix was captured and was presumed dead before Order 66 had been carried out.

“Where did this intel come from?” Cody questioned, and what can we do to stop it happening?”

“What I am about to tell you cannot leave this room,” Anakin told the Clones sternly, “it could put you in significant danger if the Sith suspect you know what is going on.”

The three Clones nodded, and Anakin continued, “I have travelled back in time from the future. I saw all this happen, both personally, and through video feeds. I will not let the Jedi be destroyed. Not again.”

The three Clones were silent. No one in the room made a sound. The only noise was the muffled noise of the Coruscant traffic. Anakin checked his breathing subconsciously, just to reassure himself.

“The Jedi…destroyed?” Cody eventually croaked out.

“Aside from a few scant survivors, yes.”

“Even the young ones?” Rex’s eyes flicked to Ahsoka.

“Ahsoka was one of the youngest to survive. The younglings still at the temple were all murdered,” Anakin replied softly. 

Kix shifted uncomfortably, “What can we do?”

“We need to remove the chips of as many Clones as we can,” Anakin replied, “but, here’s the hard part, we need to do it without the Senate being aware.”

“Why would the senate need to not be informed, aren’t they the ones who we’re fighting for?” Cody asked curiously.

“Let’s just say that the Sith have allies in the Senate and we cannot let the Sith suspect that we know about the chips. It may cause them to issue the order to destroy the Jedi early…which would be a disaster for the Jedi, and at this stage of the war, for the Republic too.”

“The Jedi Council, however, are aware of this,” Obi-Wan added carefully, “this isn’t something that Anakin and I are trying to do on our own.”

“I’ll do it, I can’t risk the lives of my Generals,” Cody declared. Both Rex and Kix nodding emphatically in agreement.

“The procedure is not without risks, we are talking about your brains,” Obi-Wan pointed out.

“With all due respect, General,” Kix replied, “I’m a medic, I know the risks…but I refuse to stand by and risk that at any moment I’ll just start trying to kill you all.”

“Thank you, my friends.” Obi-Wan smiled, glancing across at Anakin. Anakin was able to give a weak grin of his own in reply. They had Cody, Rex and Kix on board, and the 501st and 212th were bound to follow. Things were finally looking up.


	10. Chapter 10

Obi-Wan watched as Anakin instructed Ahsoka on her lightsaber technique. After their meeting with the Jedi Cody, Rex and Kix had headed back to their barracks to scout out some among their men who would be willing to be the first batch to get their chips removed, alongside Cody, Rex and Kix. After their departure Anakin and been tense and restless, so Obi-Wan had suggested some lightsaber practice. Anakin was not someone who meditated easily, and Obi-Wan had learned over the years as Anakin’s teacher that lightsaber practice worked well as a sort of moving mediation for his young Padawan.

Both Anakin and Ahsoka had both agreed, so they had headed down to the training areas of the Jedi Temple. There were not many Jedi about, a few Padawans around Ahsoka’s age doing some extra training under the watchful gaze of a Master, and a couple of solitary knights doing rehabilitation exercises as they recovered from injuries gained on various battlefields. Ahsoka had wanted to try a few things out, and Anakin had offered a few pointers.

Obi-Wan watched Anakin carefully. He’d noticed a few things since Anakin had woken up in his younger body, suddenly a twenty year old again, rather than a 45 year old Sith Lord. He’d first noticed it when they were heading to the Jedi Council chambers the first time, although he’d noticed it every time after his former Padawan had been walking the halls of the temple. He would be oddly quiet, his eyes would often be cast downwards, his gaze flickering to the side, or down a corridor, as if Anakin was seeing something that wasn’t there. It wasn’t until now that Obi-wan was beginning to suspect that Anakin was looking at spots where Jedi had lain as they were slaughtered, by Clones, or by Anakin’s own hand.

Whenever they encountered other Jedi, even ones that Anakin had gotten on well with, Anakin wouldn’t look them in their eyes, instead looking at the floor. Obi-Wan, Ahsoka and to a lesser extent, Yoda, seemed to be the only exceptions, that Obi-Wan had observed anyway.

Obi-Wan hoped that as things settled down and they were able to use Anakin’s knowledge to defeat the Sith, once and for all, Anakin would settle down and be able to move on from what he had seen, done and experienced, once the younger Jedi knew that it wasn’t going to happen again. Obi-Wan had already seen signs of it. Compared to when Anakin had first returned to his own body he looked less…strained, as if a great weight had been lifted from his shoulders. Yes, there was still tension…their situation hadn’t improved that much, they’d barely done anything, but there were the beginnings of plans.

Obi-Wan leaned against the wall of the training area, his arms crossed in front of him as Anakin demonstrated a move for Ahsoka to copy. Anakin’s tension had been there before he’d woken up in his younger body. It had been noticeable since the start of the Clone Wars…or even before that, when he’d started having dreams…no, visions, of his mother’s torture and death. Who knew how much before that Obi-Wan just hadn’t noticed it?

Telling the truth, revealing secrets that Anakin should never have felt he needed to keep, had obviously done Anakin some good, although it revealed a whole new set of problems. Obi-Wan couldn’t help but feel as if he’d made multiple serious mistakes during Anakin’s time as his Padawan. 

Obi-Wan viewed Anakin as his brother…he had for a long time now. Perhaps it hadn’t always been like that, but it had certainly developed into a brotherly feeling. Anakin, he’d thought, had felt the same. With that, Obi-Wan had thought, came trust, but obviously Anakin had been convinced that Obi-Wan’s loyalty to the Jedi was deeper and more meaningful than any relationship he had with Anakin. It had to explain why Anakin had never told Obi-Wan the truth about his relationship with Padme.

It couldn’t have been easy for Anakin, the pressure of hiding his marriage, in addition to being newly knighted, the Clone Wars and Anakin’s position of responsibility as General of the elite 501st. Then there was training Ahsoka too. It was no wonder that the Chancellor was able to manipulate Anakin and make him feel isolated.

“Deep in thought you are?’ Yoda’s voice cut through Obi-Wan’s thoughts, and Obi-Wan glance down, observing the wise Jedi Master beside him. Yoda was accompanied by Mace Windu, and while Yoda was focused on Obi-Wan, Obi-Wan noticed how Mace was watching Anakin and Ahsoka.

“Yes,” Obi-Wan admitted, although it had been rather obvious. He hadn’t even noticed the two Jedi Masters walking into the room, and he knew they were both fully aware of the fact.

“Hmmm, share your thoughts, will you?”

Obi-Wan walked to a bench that was against the wall, “Just reflecting on…things I’ve missed,” he admitted.

“Cloud everything, the Dark Side does,” Counselled Yoda. 

Mace nodded in agreement, “You are not the only one who failed to see what was going on beneath our noses.”

“Not that,” corrected Obi-Wan with a shake of his head, “things with Anakin. He…he obviously didn’t trust me with anything.”

“Over estimated your adherence to the code, Skywalker has,” Yoda agreed with a nod, “Aware of your own past, and even current, difficulties, he is not. See you as the perfect Jedi, he always has, compare himself unfairly, he does. At fault, we all are for this. Forget we do that raised in the Temple, he was not.”

“You think he shouldn’t have been trained, after everything that’s happened?”

“No,” Yoda was quick to shake his head, “Correct, Master Qui Gon was. Train the young Skywalker, we needed to do, but handle the situation better, we should have. Cruel it was, to him and to you, to expect what we did of you both. The effects of that now we can see.”

Obi-Wan was confused. Was Yoda saying that Obi-Wan shouldn’t have taken Anakin as his Padawan?

Yoda seemed to sense Obi-Wan’s thoughts, because he shook his head again, “Misunderstand me, you do. A better Master for Skywalker I could not imagine. Perfect you were for him, both then, and now. A teacher, a Friend, a brother even, you are for him. It is the Council’s treatment of you both that is wrong. Nine years of life outside of the Temple, Skywalker had lived. To suddenly expect him to adapt to our way of life, that is what was cruel. A normal jedi, Skywalker would never have been. Exceptions we should have made, attachments allowed. Needs them to thrive, he does.”

“Every Jedi should follow the code,” Mace reminded them both, still watching Anakin and Ahsoka. The pair had begun sparring, and Obi-Wan could see that Anakin was struggling…holding back, even more than he normally did when sparring with Ahsoka. A youngling could have defeated Anakin the way Anakin was fighting. For a moment Obi-Wan wondered if Anakin had disguised some injury or illness that was troubling him, before he sensed Anakin’s fear. 

Anakin was holding back because he was afraid that he’d accidently hurt Ahsoka. A horrible though occurred in Obi-Wan’s mind. Anakin had already confirmed that he’d battled Obi-Wan at least once after Anakin had fallen. Had Anakin fought against Ahsoka at some point during his time as a Sith? Had Anakin killed his own Padawan? Was that why Anakin couldn’t bring himself to even challenge Ahsoka?

Obi-Wan moved to get up, but Mace rested his hand on Obi-Wan’s arm, holding him back as Ahsoka easily disarmed Anakin.

“Not always forbidden Attachments have been,” Yoda reminded them. Mace sighed and nodded. It was true, the code hadn’t always existed, it had been introduced as the main doctrine for the Jedi 1000 years earlier. Prior to that attachments hadn’t been forbidden.

“Time it is, to review the code,” Yoda told them, “Bring this up with the council I must. Weakened the Jedi are, and Vulnerable. Isolated from those we protect. Mistrust towards the Jedi, there is. Feel it, I do, when fighting alongside the clones to protect the republic, I do.”

“First we need to deal with the Sith,” Mace grumbled.

“Correct you are,” Yoda nodded, “After that, if live we do, then change we must if survive the Jedi order will.”

Obi-Wan nodded, pleased that the council was thinking about taking action. It would sooth Anakin, if nothing else. He looked back at Anakin and Ahsoka, cringing sympathetically as Ahsoka kicked Anakin’s legs out from beneath him, sending Anakin sprawling to the ground. Ahsoka obviously had noticed Anakin holding back and was trying to force him into putting more effort in by continuously beating him.

“I should go and rescue Anakin, he’s probably already bruised.”

“It’s alright, Obi-Wan, I’ll deal with it.”

Obi-Wan blinked in surprise. Mace was the best duellist in the order, and he trained hard, but Obi-Wan didn’t think he remembered Mace offering to spar with Anakin since Anakin was about fourteen and Obi-Wan had been stuck in the Halls of Healing after being injured on a mission. Anakin had told him enthusiastically about it afterwards, and one of Obi-Wan’s friends who had witnessed the fight had told Obi-Wan that Anakin had paid avid attention to the older Master, trying to soak up any offered pointers or advice.

Anakin had definitely learned from the experience, the next time he’d sparred against his Padawan he’d noticed the improvement in Anakin’s skills.

“Wise, this is,” Yoda nodded as Mace approached the pair, apologising for interrupting their training session. 

“Wise?”

“Defeat your former Padawan in the future, you did, and leave him maimed. Not sure, I am, if ready to fight you again, he is,” Yoda reminded gently as Ahsoka joined them, taking Mace’s place on the bench. The Padawans had stopped their practice, their eyes drawn to the sight of two of the order’s best duellists on a sparring mat together.

“Hmm, gather round padawans,” Yoda called to them cheerfully, “much to learn, there will be.”

The Padawans assembled themselves at the edge of the mat, whispering between themselves, probably anticipating who would emerge the victor. In the centre of the mat, Anakin and Mace were readying themselves. Mace had adjusted the controls of his lightsaber, switching it onto the lowest setting to prevent any accidental injuries. Anakin had already adjusted his settings when he had fought Ahsoka so instead he was doing some stretches, preparing himself. Obi-Wan bit his lip, unable to deny that he was uncertain how this was going to go.

On one hand, Anakin might be ok, and would fight to the best of his abilities. He might even be able to use the knowledge he’d gained during his time in the future to increase his skill, even though Obi-Wan knew that Anakin was still getting used to his own body again. Anakin’s future self was heavier and taller than Anakin’s 20 year old body, and all four limbs were prosthetic, rather than only one. Obi0-Wan thought that Anakin was doing well, considering this was the first time Anakin had been sparring since he’d been brought back. 

On the other hand though, would Anakin be able to bring himself fight against a Jedi? He was still drowning in guilt over his actions towards the Jedi, and, just as with Ahsoka, Obi-Wan didn’t know if Anakin had fought against Mace following his fall. Was this just going to cause Anakin even more trauma?

“Betray you, your thoughts do. Worry, you should not. Careful, Master Windu will be, and ready, you and I shall be. Face his fears, Skywalker must, if succeed he will.”

“Yes Master,” Obi-Wan, nodded, forcing himself to release his fears into the force and relax a little on the bench as the two Jedi on the mat face each other, assuming their usual opening stances. Anakin looked more than a little uncertain, shifting his feet and glancing away from Mace. Obi-Wan was obviously the not the only one to notice.]

“You can do it, Skyguy,” Ahsoka whispered under her breath encouragingly, while Yoda narrowed his eyes, lowered his ears, and tightened his grip on his gimer stick.

Mace too seemed to notice, because he dropped out of his opening stance and stepped a little closer to Anakin, saying somethings to him, although too quietly for Obi-Wan to hear. Mace had his back to Obi-Wan, Yoda and Ahsoka, but Obi-Wan could just see Anakin say something in reply, although once again too quiet for anyone to overhear.

Mace replied to Anakin’s response, and they continued their quiet exchange of words for a minute, before Mace stepped back and reassumed his opening stance. Anakin too seemed ready now, assuming his own usual opening stance, looking much more confident. 

The pair faced each other, their eyes fixed on their opponents. Mace made the first move, a relatively easy strike that Anakin deflected easily, and then it was on.

Despite being disadvantaged compared to his peers when it came to experience, having spent the first nine years of his life outside of the Temple, Anakin had always been skilled with a lightsaber. In that moment, watching Anakin fighting Mace, Obi-Wan was taken back to the first time he put a training sabre in Anakin’s hand and began to teach him his first Kata.

Now, watching Anakin as he sparred against Mace, Obi-Wan felt pride well up within him. Anakin had always been skilled, but Obi-Wan had never seen Anakin fight so well. The two lightsabers clashed and whirled as they were wielded by the two Jedi. Mace and Anakin moved quickly across the mat, as if they were in some sort of fierce dance. Neither were willing to give up too much ground, and Obi-Wan wasn’t sure who would win.

Beside him, Ahsoka was leaning forward, her mouth hanging open in awe at her Master’s skill, while the other Padawans were enthusiastically leaning forward, cheering and whooping as one of the Masters performed an exceptionally good or difficult manoeuvre. Yoda too was leaning forward, his lips quirked upwards just a hint.

On and on they fought. If Mace seemed to gain the upper hand, then Anakin somehow managed to step up his own skills a level to match, and then if Anakin seemed to be getting the upper hand, then Mace would do the same, until, suddenly, it was over. Anakin tripped on his own feet a little, and Mace was able to take advantage of the error, quickly disarming Anakin, knocking him to the ground, and holding his lightsaber to Anakin’s throat, signalling the end of the match.


End file.
